FIFA is discussing delaying the election for their next president following the suspensions of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, two sources told Reuters, as soccer’s governing body called an emergency meeting on the crisis.
A delay to the election could make it easier for UEFA president Michel Platini to be a candidate to replace the departing Blatter — if Platini succeeds in an appeal against his ban from the game.
England’s Football Association, which has supported Platini’s candidature, said on Friday it was among those making the call for a crisis meeting of FIFA’s executive where the election would be discussed.
That request was heeded when FIFA later announced that an extraordinary executive committee meeting would be held on Oct. 20th at their headquarters in Zurich.
FIFA did not say if the timing of the election would be on the agenda but the executive committee is the only body that can make the decision to postpone the vote, scheduled for Feb. 26.
Two sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters that a postponement of the election was being discussed within FIFA and its member organisations.
“For the time being the schedule is as it is,” a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters, adding that she did not wish to speculate on the issue.
UEFA’s 54 member associations are gathering on Thursday at their headquarters in Nyon where the election will also be on the agenda, the spokesman from England’s FA said.
*Reuters