UEFA will elect a president in September to replace Michel Platini, who was banned by Federation Internationale de Football Association for accepting a $2 million payment approved by Sepp Blatter.
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UEFA’s acting general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said Platini “is still the president” of UEFA because, for them, he remains “suspended” until a new president is elected.
Spanish football chief Angel Maria Villar, who will hand out the trophies to the winners of the Europa League later on Wednesday and the Champions League on 28 May, is also reported to be in the running, along with Portugal FA chief Fernando Gomes. Candidates for both elections will have until July 20 to file their candidacy paperwork, Theodoridis noted.
Platini was initially suspended for eight years by the ethics committee, reduced to six by FIFA’s own appeal committee and then four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
When asked if UEFA now considered Platini to be guilty following numerous failed appeals, Theodoridis replied: “It is not for UEFA to judge decisions of courts, we have to accept them and adapt”.
Former French footballer Michel Platini has been at the helm of UEFA since 2007.
The UEFA race is expected to take shape during the June 10-July 10 European Championship in France.
Platini was banned from all football-related activity a year ago, after receiving a “disloyal payment” from then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2011.
However, as “first vice-president” of Uefa, Villar will now step in. The answers we have received are not that clear. “We don’t want to violate any Federation Internationale de Football Association rules”.
After his CAS hearing in Lausanne, Platini told reporters he planned to attend numerous 51 Euro 2016 matches.
“The question is clarifying what constitutes official capacity in practise”, added UEFA’s legal director Alasdair Bell.
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“I want to use my experience, network and knowledge to turn it into a cohesive unit again”, Van Praag said in the statement.
