Chung announces bid for top FIFA job

By Nam Hyun-woo

Chung Mong-joon, the former FIFA vice president, officially launched his bid for the presidency of the world football body, Monday.

At a news conference at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris, Chung said that “FIFA needs a leader who can bring back common sense, transparency and accountability.”

After acting FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced that he would resign from his post in June, Chung has hinted that he would bid for the world’s top football job. He has now made his intentions clear after officially announcing he will bid to replace the Swiss national in the Feb. 26 election.

“The core issue of this election is whether the 40-year-old system of corruption should continue or not,” Chung said of Blatter’s 40-year FIFA career during his speech.

Blatter has come under intense pressure due to an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Swiss prosecutors on corruption charges and said he would step down from the post which he held for 17 years and an unprecedented five terms.

“FIFA is undergoing a profound crisis,” Chung said. “Under these circumstances, the FIFA president must be a crisis manager and reformer.”

The Korean administrator said he has long been recognized as a reformer, citing his 1995 speech demanding more transparency within FIFA, which was not implemented.

“The problem at FIFA is that for those mired in corruption, the only thing they are interested in is hiding corruption,” he said.

He pledged he will strengthen the “checks and balances” with the presidency, the Executive Committee and judicial bodies. Also, he promised to impose a term limit on the presidency, adding that he will serve one four-year term.

Another pledge was to increase financial transparency, which includes disclosing the president’s salary, bonuses and expenses.

Since FIFA’s foundation in Paris in 1904, it has had eight presidents, all Europeans, except for Brazilian Joao Havelange. Chung stressed that “FIFA needs to reflect the different reality,” urging the new president should come from a non-European bloc.

On Monday, Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association (KFA) and a member of the powerful Chung family, expressed his support for older Chung’s bid.

“Should Chung be elected as FIFA president, he can guide FIFA to the new era by spearheading a series of reforms as well as solving various problems that challenge the world body,” the KFA president said in a statement.

“With Chung’s bid, Korean football can have a chance to contribute to the advancement of not only Asian football but also world football.”

After he first dropped hints he would vie for the top FIFA job two months ago, Chung has toured a number of FIFA events to meet influential figures -- a move to restore his diminished presence in the organization since 2011 when he was ousted as vice president by Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein.

As Chung formally launches his bid, it is expected that his strongest rival will be UEFA President Michel Platini.

Unfavorable for Chung is that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has already expressed its backing for Platini.

AFC President Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement that FIFA needs “leadership with experience, wisdom and ability to bring back stability to FIFA,” adding that “Mr. Platini boasts such characteristics and has an ambitious vision to renew belief in the organization.”

Other football confederations and national associations including the South American Football Confederation and England Football Association already gave the Frenchman their backing.

Against this backdrop, Chung is emphasizing that he has been against Blatter, who is at the center of recent FIFA corruption scandals, while Platini was a key campaigner helping Blatter become FIFA president in 1998 and has been the long-time heir apparent.

“The real reason FIFA has become such a corrupt organization is because the same person and his cronies have been running it for 40 years,” Chung said of Blatter, adding that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Those who want to replace Blatter are required to have the nominations of federations from five countries before the Oct. 26 deadline. The election will be held on Feb. 26. So far, the candidates, including Chung and Platini, will be joined by football greats such as the Brazilian player Zico and Argentine Diego Maradona as well as Liberia Football Association President Musa Bility.