FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon on Tuesday said that the election to succeed FIFA president Sepp Blatter is in danger of “being manipulated to a degree unseen even in previous notorious FIFA presidential elections.”
The 79-year-old Blatter announced his decision to step down shortly after winning a fifth term earlier this year, with FIFA embroiled in allegations of corruption.
Fourteen FIFA and sports business executives were in May charged by US authorities over more than US$150 million in bribes allegedly paid for television and marketing deals.
Seven FIFA officials have been detained, but Blatter has not been linked to any corruption case.
The 63-year-old Chung, a former FIFA vice president, on Saturday last week dismissed allegations saying that he tried in 2010 to influence the vote in his home nation’s favor for the hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in violation of the body’s code of ethics — Qatar were controversial winners and their victory along with Russia’s for the 2018 tournament is subject to one of the investigations.
However, Chung on Tuesday issued another statement in which he slammed the manner in which the campaign was being constantly affected by leaks springing from within FIFA, saying that if the election was not seen to be fair then FIFA’s image would not recover.
“Whether or not the upcoming FIFA presidential election takes place according to due process, fairness and openness will be the litmus test for whether or not genuine reform of FIFA will be possible,” the statement said. “Only a fair and open election can resuscitate FIFA’s reputation, which has been gravely undermined by scandals old and new.”
Chung, who made an abortive bid for the South Korean presidency in 2002, said that he was clean and not under threat of facing any FIFA disciplinary action.
“To be clear, contrary to recent press reports based on FIFA leaks, [I am] not facing any criminal charges or allegations of bribery, fraud, corruption, vote buying or even a breach of ‘conflict of interest’ under the FIFA Ethics Code from the Ethics Committee,” the statement said.
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