PANAMA CITY — Sepp Blatter gave his strongest hint yet that he may stay on for another four-year term as FIFA president beyond 2015, saying the scale of reform facing soccer's global governing body needed time. Blatter, 77, has indicated in the past he would not stand for a fifth consecutive term in two years' time, but he told Reuters Friday that he would not “abandon this boat” before he was sure FIFA was in the right shape. “We are not over with our reform because we have a first part, we have all the dangers that are in football like match-fixing and so on but we also have to have a look at the political organisation of FIFA,” he said after attending CONCACAF's congress. CONCACAF is soccer's governing body in North and Central America, and the Caribbean region. Blatter has increasingly talked of the need to strengthen the ‘global' character of FIFA and he said there was a need to address the issue of representation of the different confederations on the administration's executive committee. “It means (asking) if the re-partition of the members in the Executive Committee is still according to nowadays (current) football,” he said. “Also - and this is the demand of all the confederations - they would have a better access to the World Cup because - Europe and South America they have two-thirds of the seats,” he said, referring to the make-up of the executive. Asked directly if he wanted to be sure of global balances being in place before he would move on, Blatter said: “Absolutely, but it will take more time than just to go to the congress and say ‘applaud'. “It will take more time, because it (means) going in depth, and then I will not just leave the boat by saying ‘good bye',” he said. “Some day we have to go home but I will not abandon this boat.” Blatter was elected president of FIFA in 1998, but has worked at the organisation since 1975. Gulati elected to executive committee Sunil Gulati, president of the United States Soccer Federation, was elected Friday for a four-year term on the executive committee of FIFA (Federation International Football Association). The vote took place at the congress of the North and Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) in Panama City Friday. Gulati has been president of US soccer since 2006. Because of his new post, Gulati had to step down from the CONCACAF executive committee and was replaced by Canada's Victor Montagliani. Gulati won 18-17 in a balloting at the congress. Gulati was elected to a four-year term and will join football's 25-member ruling body at the FIFA Congress on May 30-31 in Mauritius. He will take the seat of fellow American Chuck Blazer, who had held it since 1997. — Agencies
