The English and German football associations on Thursday demanded an emergency FIFA executive meeting following the suspension of the world body’s president Sepp Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini.
The 54-member European body, UEFA is also to hold a special meeting, probably next Thursday, to discuss Platini’s future role, a source close to the confederation said.
UEFA will probably have to name a stand-in president during Platini’s 90 day suspension from all international football matters.
Spanish federation chief Angel Maria Villar Llona, a former Athletic Bilbao player, is UEFA’s senior vice president and should take over.
Blatter has been suspended following the opening of a Swiss investigation for criminal mismanagement. Platini has been named in the inquiry over a two million dollar (1.8 million euros) payment from FIFA.
“David Gill, the British member of the FIFA Executive, along with Wolfgang Niersbach, the German representative, have today called for an emergency meeting of the FIFA Executive to discuss this morning’s events,” said an English FA statement.
“This is an extremely disappointing day for football. We trust the FIFA Ethics Committee will conduct the investigations in an independent, robust and timely manner,” the FA added.
Niersbach had also led calls for the UEFA meeting. The German federation chief said on Thursday that Platini now needs to examine whether his FIFA candidacy can be “maintained” following his suspension.
The English FA had backed Platini for the February 26 election to find a new FIFA president. It reaffirmed that support last week but said his naming in a Swiss criminal investigation targeting Blatter has to be “fully examined”.
“As we said last week, there are key questions that have arisen in the past month that must be answered by those concerned.” – Agence France-Presse
