ZURICH: On another day of turmoil for FIFA and the World Cup, the bidding contest for the 2026 tournament was put on hold as it embarked on the search to find a replacement for outgoing president Sepp Blatter.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday it would be “nonsense” to begin the next bidding process on schedule this week amid the American investigation into football corruption.

“Due to the situation, I think it’s nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being. It will be postponed,” Valcke said at a news conference in the Russian 2018 World Cup host city of Samara on Wednesday after meeting local officials for a scheduled check on preparations there.

Valcke had announced in March that the host country for the 2026 tournament would be decided at a FIFA congress in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in 2017.

But football’s world governing body was then plunged into a crisis at the end of last month when 14 current or former FIFA officials and sports marketing executives were charged in Zurich as part of an investigation into alleged corruption by US authorities.

The fallout led to the resignation last week of Blatter, but his replacement will not be known until December at the earliest, leaving the organisation in limbo in the meantime.

FIFA said its executive committee would hold an extraordinary meeting in July to discuss “various dates options” for the Congress which will elect Blatter’s replacement.

The favourite to succeed Blatter, former protege turned adversary Michel Platini, criticized FIFA later on Wednesday while also welcoming a delay in 2026 business.

“Today there is no leadership at FIFA so it’s normal that it’s been suspended,” the UEFA president and former France great said at a news conference in Paris exactly a year before the start of Euro 2016.

The United States, Canada, Mexico and Morocco are among the countries to have expressed some interest in hosting the 2026 tournament, while Kazakhstan said in March that they were examining the possibility of bidding.

The FBI are investigating bribery and corruption at FIFA, including scrutiny of how football’s governing body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia, which won the bidding for 2018, and Qatar, which is due to host the finals in 2022.

Valcke and Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also a FIFA executive committee member, repeated that the 2018 hosting victory was won clean.

“Russia is carrying out its duties to prepare for the World Cup with all diligence,” Mutko said. “We took no notice of the politics, we just pragmatically continue our preparations.”

The extent of the turmoil engulfing FIFA was apparent in an emotional outburst by the usually composed Valcke, who said he was being destroyed by the media in his native France and gave a theatrical defence of his decision to sign off on a $10 million payment linked to the 2010 World Cup at the centre of the US bribery investigation.

Waving his pen in front of journalists, a visibly impatient Valcke asked: “You want me to take this pen and to hit my head and say ‘Hey! I have been stupid, I should have asked many more questions?’ You have decided that after Blatter I have to be next head to be cut?”

Blatter tendered his resignation on June 2, four days after having been re-elected for a fifth term.

He wants to remain in office until his successor is elected in order to carry out reforms at FIFA. But there have been widespread calls for him to step down at once given the gravity of the crisis facing the 111-year-old organisation.

Wolfgang Niersbach, the president of the German Football Association (DFB) who has been a long-time critic of Blatter, used an open letter to German clubs and association members to call for a successor to be elected quickly.

“With all due respect for his life’s work, Sepp Blatter does himself, and football as a whole, no favours by drawing out his resignation,” Niersbach wrote. “A new president must be chosen quickly at an extraordinary congress to represent a compelling new beginning.”

Niersbach, who insisted “everything was correct” when Germany was awarded the 2006 World Cup, also used his letter to call for “a comprehensive reform “of FIFA.

“It must be our common goal to prevent unscrupulous people being enriched at the expense of football and tighter cash flows are needed,” he added.

He also said FIFA’s voting structure should be based on the “size and sporting relevance” of its member federations. At present, each of FIFA’s 209 members has a vote, giving soccer powerhouses Germany and Brazil the same influence as tiny Pacific islands.

On Blatter’s replacement, FIFA would not confirm a report by the BBC that the election would take place on Dec 16 in Zurich.

Last week, Domenico Scala, head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee and the man responsible for overseeing the election, said it could take place any time between December and March. Four months’ notice are needed for a presidential election to be held.

“It requires an extraordinary Executive Committee that needs to confirm a date and agenda for the extraordinary elective Congress,” a FIFA spokesperson said in a statement.

“This extraordinary Executive Committee will convene in July, the precise date to be confirmed within this week. For this extraordinary elective Congress [to elect Blatter’s successor] there are currently various date options for discussion.”

Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, who lost to Blatter in the election, is tipped as a possible candidate while Chung Mong-joon, the billionaire scion of South Korea’s Hyundai conglomerate, is also weighing up a bid.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2015

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