Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/534048
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 JUNE 2015 53 Sport FOOTBALL SPORTTODAY Sepp Blatter says he is 'not a candidate for FIFA presidency' FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a newspaper interview on Saturday that he will not stand as a candidate to remain the head of world football's governing body at a special elective congress of member associations which he called for earlier this month "I am not a candidate, I am the president. And I want to hand over FIFA in good condition," the 79-year-old told Walliser Bote, a Swiss newspaper in the Valais re- gion where Blatter is from. The comments come a day after Blatter told Swiss daily newspaper Blick that he had not resigned, at- tempting to distinguish between stepping down and giving up his mandate at the as yet unscheduled special congress. A FIFA source later told Reu- ters that meant that Blatter still intends to stand down as FIFA president. In Saturday's interview, Blatter played down his lame-duck status and highlighted the reforms that he hopes to push through. "I will use all my strength and inspiration until my last working day to bring this ship back into safe harbour," Blatter is quoted by Walliser Bote as saying. A spokeswoman for FIFA said the quotes were accurate. Although Blatter has said on several occasions that he will not stand again for president his com- ments about his intention to step down in the wake of the corrup- tion scandal have been treated with scepticism by his critics. "While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel I have a mandate from the en- tire world of football - the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA," Blatter told a news conference on June 2. "This is why I will call an ex- traordinary congress to be held as soon as possible, for a new presi- dent to be elected to follow me," he said. Before starting his fourth man- date in 2011 Blatter said it would be his last term in office, but later changed his mind, saying that nu- merous federations had asked him to stand. Sepp Blatter Yaya Toure targets long stay at Manchester City Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has pledged his long-term future to the club, after admitting the fans' faith in him was hard to ignore TOURE has been the subject of in- terest from Inter Milan, who are managed by former City boss Rober- to Mancini, but after end-of-season talks with City officials he decided to stay loyal. The 32-year-old still has two years remaining on the contract he signed in April 2013, but despite a tough season last term, the Ivory Coast star was delighted to still have the sup- port of the City fans. "It is very, very important as a per- son and as a football player as well when you see people are following you," Toure told the Manchester Evening News. "It is difficult sometimes to disap- point them. "The fans are doing brilliant for this club. When people show you loy- alty, nothing is going by. That's why I want to stay at City. I want to stay long." Toure, who signed from Barcelona for £24 million back in 2010, has even set his sights on ending his career with City and hopes he can emulate AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini. He added: "That's the dream for all the players. I was trying to convince some players to continue at the club and they said 'why?' "Because it was the case of Maldini, it was the case of (Franco Baresi), of (Alessandro) del Piero - so many im- portant players. (Francesco) Totti as well. "They are staying long at the club." Yaya Toure