APRIL 19, 2005

Standing again is all the rage

The president of the international federation of football associations (FIFA) Sepp Blatter has announced that he intends to stand for re-election at the next elections in 2007. Blatter (69) has been in charge of FIFA since 1998. He had originally announced he would step down when his current term of office expired but has since reversed his decision.

"I will make myself available once more in 2007," he said, "if I stay healthy and if the federations want me."

His words sound remarkably like those of Max Mosley who announced he was retiring as FIA President in July last year but then returned and in February confirmed that he would stand for election again this year. Mosley (65) has been FIA President since 1993 and prior to that spent two years running the FISA, the FIA's sporting subsidiary.

"Health and sanity permitting I will stand again," he said.