Africa “deserves respect” as far as world football is concerned, according to Fifa president Sepp Blatter.
Blatter, who is seeking for a fifth four-year term as head of football’s governing body, will be in Cairo next week for the Confederation of African Football (Caf) congress.
“We must show African football all the great appreciation and respect it deserves,” the Swiss administrator said in his column for ‘Fifa The Weekly’ magazine.
Blatter insists it is far from mere coincidence that two African nations (Nigeria and Algeria) advanced from the group stages of the Fifa World Cup in Brazil, saying it “reflects the upward trend.
“Nowadays the pulse of African football is so strong that the major European and Asian leagues would be far worse off without it. The refreshing skills and technical finesse of the African teams are among the greatest attractions at the World Cup,” he added.
Caf have not made secret their support for the 79-year-old in his ambition to retain the Fifa top job into the advanced age of 83 as has been the case since he first assumed office in 1998, and he insists African football has been better for it.
“Credit for this development must also go to CAF president Issa Hayatou,” he said. “Using strategic wisdom and sure instinct in the world of sports politics, he has succeeded in keeping this vast continent together in all its linguistic, ethnic and cultural diversity.”
Blatter’s comments could not have come at a better time, ahead of next week’s meeting of Caf’s 54 affiliate members.
The trio of Fifa vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Michael van Praag, the Dutch FA boss, and former Portugal international Luis Figo, who are seeking to unseat the incumbent Fifa president, will also be in attendance at the Caf headquarter in Cairo.
“The power of football is arguably even more significant in Africa than the rest of the world, because it symbolises a common denominator for all peoples, nations and tribes,”
The election will take place at Fifa congress in Zurich, beginning from 29 May.
