Football Kenya Federation said that they have made up their mind and it is not going to change even after the scandal. (Source: Reuters)
Kenya and other member countries of the East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) will still vote for Sepp Blatter as FIFA supremo despite the current corruption crisis, sources said on Thursday.
Three Football Kenya Federation (FKF) officials led by its president Sam Nyamweya are currently in Zurich for the annual general congress starting Wednesday, and a spokesman said Kenya would not reverse the decision made collectively with CECAFA to support Blatter for a fifth term.
“The decision to support Blatter was already made before the current corruption crisis. There is not likely to be any change of mind now,” a senior FKF source told AFP.
“There are a lot of crises in football everywhere, even here in Kenya. It is only people with a hard skin who can survive”, he added.
The presidents of CECAFA, which brings together 13 regional football federations in the East and African region, met in Nairobi last month and decided to again back the controversial FIFA supremo against Jordanian Prince Ali bin al Hussein.
“President Blatter’s overwhelming support in Africa is premised not only on his unparallelled dedication and commitment in supporting development of football in the poor countries, which constitute the majority of African countries, but also on his support in pursuit of African interests,” they said in a statement after the meeting.
“He has always considered the African continent as an important constituency of FIFA.”
Australia to vote against Blatter for FIFA presidency
Australian soccer officials said they were planning to vote for Prince Ali bin Al Hussein at the FIFA presidential election, in direct contrast to the Asian Football Confederation which had earlier re-affirmed its support for Sepp Blatter.
The Football Federation of Australia had previously been a staunch ally of Blatter but issued a statement on Thursday saying soccer’s world governing body needed a new leader.
“FFA believes that profound change within FIFA is needed as soon as possible to address issues of governance and transparency,” the statement read.
(Reuters)
