By Andrew Warshaw
November 11- Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino insists he will not give way to Michel Platini if he wins the Fifa presidential election on February 26.
Infantino has carried out his first series of interviews since announcing he was entering the presidential race as a backup European candidate to his Uefa boss who is currently suspended over the infamous 2m Swiss franc payment received in 2011 from Fifa and who is at risk of a longer ban once the ethics probe has been completed.
Infantino admits he will stand down during the next three months of campaigning if Platini somehow wins his appeal in time to contest the election to succeed Sepp Blatter. But, says the Uefa number two, once the election is over, he will not hand over to his current superior even if Platini is cleared thereafter.
“My candidacy is not in opposition to Michel,” Infantino said. “If he is able to stand, I will withdraw. It’s a simple principle of loyalty. (But) I take it seriously which means if I am elected on 26 February in case Michel cannot run, then I will be the Fifa president and I will act as Fifa president. There is no stepping down or whatever.”
While he awaits the outcome of the case against the Uefa president, Infantino is setting out his vision for the future and has confirmed he would increase the number of teams competing at the World Cup finals from 32 to 40 if he is elected as president, just as Platini says he would too.
“I believe in expanding the World Cup based on the experience we had in Europe with the Euros,” said Infantino.
“Look at qualifiers now where some teams who have never qualified did and some teams which have always qualified didn’t make it. So it created a completely new dynamic in the qualification. It created new enthusiasm. If you are serious about developing football it must involve more associations in the best football event in the world: The World Cup.”
Infantino insists he will pick up support from outside Europe as he campaigns across the globe. “I don’t have a European vision. I have a vision for football,” he said.
Having worked in Platini’s shadow implementing his superior’s ideas, he admits the pair share the same philosophy on most things but that there are a few differences.
“I hope that on all of the ideas [Michel Platini] will agree with but maybe on some of them the priorities are maybe not exactly the same. I have been working with Michel Platini for the last nine years. We share many views and many ideas. It’s obvious we have the same philosophy on many things but I am a candidate on my own, I will have ideas on my own. It’s my programme. The priorities are the same but there will be some differences.”
Much has been made of how Infantino threw his hat into the ring just before the Oct 26 deadline to save Europe being left behind. “We made a draw and my name came out,” he joked. He admits he had never previously publicly expressed any desire to run the global game but denies he only put his forward because Uefa could not support any of the other candidates.
“It’s not a question about other candidates, it’s a question about Europe being present and making its voice heard,” Infantino said. “When you have a function in football like mine with responsibilities you have to assume responsibility when times are difficult, to put yourself forward in order to try to change this and bring messages forward.”
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