Head of the organizing committee for the 2018 World Cup Alexei Sorokin (R), FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke (C) and Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko attend a news conference in the southern city of Samara, Russia, Wednesday. — Reuters * Search begins for Blatter's replacement * FIFA to hold special meeting in July
SAMARA, Russia — Scandal-plagued FIFA postponed the bidding for the right to host the 2026 World Cup Wednesday and embarked on the search to find a replacement for outgoing President Sepp Blatter. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said during an event in Russia that it would be “nonsense” to start the bidding process for the tournament for the time being. Meanwhile, 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 FBI is investigating bribery and corruption at FIFA, including scrutiny of how soccer'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. Blatter tendered his resignation on June 2, four days after having been re-elected for a fifth term. Blatter has said 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 organization. His shock announcement came less than a week after Swiss police staged a dawn raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich and arrested several officials on corruption charges filed by US prosecutors in New York. “Due to the situation, I think it's nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being. It will be postponed,” Valcke told a news conference in the southern Russian city of Samara. The decision on who hosts the 2026 finals had been due to be made in Kuala Lumpur in 2017. Valcke was visiting Samara, one of the host venues, to see how preparations are going for the 2018 Finals. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said he saw no threat to Russia hosting the cup in 2018 and its bid was in line with the law. Valcke, sitting beside Mutko after visiting one of the 2018 venues, said plans were on track and there had been nothing in Russia's bid to conclude it was not in line with the regulations. In Paris, UEFA president Michel Platini, holding his first news conference since Blatter's resignation, welcomed the decision to postpone the bidding for 2026. “It's normal. There was a process that was launched for a vote in 2017,” said Platini, who has become a leading critic of Blatter and FIFA. “There is no leadership at the moment, so it's normal that it's suspended. It's good.” 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. Platini Wednesday intervened in a controversy over French Prime Minister Manuel Valls' attendance at last Saturday's Champions League final in Berlin, after a row exploded about Valls' use of a government jet to get there. Platini said he had invited Valls, who wanted to discuss the EURO 2016 tournament, to be hosted by France, and the corruption allegations engulfing FIFA. Valls is facing accusations that he treated himself and his two children to a private excursion at taxpayers' expense. — Reuters
