FIFA rejects age limits as Blatter says critics are disrespectful

FIFA rejects age limits as Blatter says critics are disrespectful - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/06/fifa-rejects-age-limits-blatter-says-critics-disrespectful/#sthash.NlSZ5B7B.dpuf

Football’s world governing body FIFA has voted against introducing age and term limits for its executives.
SEPP Blatter

SEPP Blatter

The voting too place at the body’s congress on Wednesday in Sao Paulo, Brazil ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals which got underway on Thursday.

The referendum for age and term limits was one of the reforms listed by the former chairman of FIFA’s independent governance committee, Mark Pieth.

The resolution required a majority to take the proposals forward to next year’s FIFA congress, where they would have required the backing of 75 per cent of members to be passed.

With the proposals rejected, the position of FIFA President Sepp Blatter would appear to have been strengthened.

The Swiss spoke on Wednesday of his incomplete “mission” at the helm, although he stopped short of confirming his intention to stand for another term in 2015.

The 78-year-old Blatter also hit out at what he called “disrespectful” attempts to curtail his presidency, while speaking on the sidelines of the congress.

On Tuesday, the national associations of England and the Netherlands were among those to speak out against Blatter continuing as president.

The Swiss, who said originally that his current four-year term would be his last, said the apparent European revolt “was the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life’’.(PANA/NAN)