Off the wire
• UN chief calls for de-escalation in southern Lebanon  • Inquest begins on fatal Sydney siege  • Dry Christmas tree causes deadly mansion fire in Maryland, killing six  • Canada's main stock market tumbles amid U.S. Fed announcement, falling oil prices  • U.S. urges calm after latest deadly exchange of fire between Israel, Hezbollah  • Slovak government reopens second pension pillar  • CeBIT 2015 to focus on digitization, expects huge China presence  • Spotlight: Victim, veteran at UN mark 70th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation  • Roundup: U.S. stocks retreat further on Fed statement, falling oil prices  • Roundup: Building collapses in Sarajevo, 2 killed  
You are here: 　 Home

Van Praag wants bigger World Cup, strict measures against match fixing

Xinhua, January 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Michael van Praag wants more teams from outside Europe present at the World Cup and aims to implant more strict measures to combat match fixing, the FIFA presidential candidate stated during his presentation on Wednesday at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.

"I am looking forward to present you my 'FIFA normalization agenda 2015-2019' next month, but I don't like empty promises. So, for now I unveil some of my intentions," Van Praag said.

If elected as FIFA president his first intention is the enlargement of the World Cup, currently on 32 participating teams. "The football world is better served with a bigger World Cup, with more countries from outside Europe, because participation at the World Cup has proven to be good for the development and popularity of football in the participating countries."

Van Praag also promised to cut spending on non-football issues. "Last year a FIFA film cost 20 million euros. That's money that belongs to the associations," he explained.

"Another intention is strict measures to combat match fixing," Van Praag continued. "This is a huge threat to integrity of our sport. Combatting match fixing should be on top of the agenda worldwide."

"Also high on the agenda is transparency of FIFA," he added. "For instance, I think that FIFA should make expenses public. At present expenses are very secret."

The FIFA presidential elections will be held at the 65th FIFA congress in Zurich, which starts on May 29 this year. So far Jerome Champagne, David Ginola, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan and Luis Figo also announced the intention to stand against Blatter. "I am also open for a fair debate with other candidates, publicly, broadcasted live," Van Praag added.

For Blatter Van Praag had the following message: "Sepp, you would make yourself immortal if you step aside."

Blatter is clear favorite to get a majority vote by the 209 FIFA member associations and therefor able to start a fifth term as FIFA president. The majority of Africa's 53 FIFA countries support Blatter and he also remains popular in Asia, eastern Europe, South America and most of North and Central America and the Caribbean. Van Praag might be able to get the confidence of most European countries, but where else should he get his votes from?

"My intention is to visit key figures of confederations and explain them how I want to do it," Van Praag said. "I want to convince them to support me and my normalization program. I want to convince them I am the right candidate for the whole world. I am looking forward to meeting old friends and listen to them. It is about the future of football, a game to love." Endi