Platini rules himself out of Fifa race

Muscat: The president of the European Football Federation (Uefa) Michel Platini confirmed yesterday that he will not be in the running for the Fifa presidency and he expects Josef Blatter to continue in his post for six more years.

"I came to Muscat in response to a kind invitation from the organisers and watched the two matches of the first day, and I believe all four teams have done well.

"I am sure that the tournament will help in improving the game in the region. It is a special tournament for the teams of the region and is not included in the Fifa calendar, which means that the member countries will decide whether to continue or not."

Platini said he had never announced any intention to run for the Fifa presidency.

"We have a good president at the moment who announced that he will run for another office, which means that whoever thinks of the presidency should wait for six more years."

Asked about if he was satisfied with the game, Platini said, "Football is my passion. When I was 20 I was a player, at 35 I became a coach and at 52 I find myself as the president of Uefa. I have a goal and that is to guard the game."

"When I discovered that European football was going in the wrong direction as businessmen discovered new investment in the game, I ran for the presidency of Uefa to prevent a disaster.

Platini said he did not think the world financial crisis would affect football. "Football will be played whatever happens. Football had been played in the past with small financial support and will continue forever".

Platini said he was working to make changes in the European Champions League to allow some small clubs to take part in the finals and to allow families to watch the final matches in addition to inviting 300 children from the city that hosts the final to attend the championship match and to hold the final match on a Saturday instead of Wednesdays as is the case at the moment.