FIFA leadership
January 28, 2011
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) nominated Germany's top soccer official to the executive committee of football's world governing body, FIFA, on Friday.
As the only candidate for the spot, Theo Zwanziger is almost certain to get final approval in a FIFA vote in March. Zwanziger is already on UEFA's executive committee, and is the current president of the German Football Association.
"It shows the shared confidence of UEFA and its member associations, whose high regard our president enjoys," said Wolfgang Niersbach, the German Football Association's General Secretary.
Zwanziger would take the spot of German football legend Franz Beckenbauer on FIFA's executive committee. In November, Beckenbauer announced he would not seek reelection for personal reasons. But he later told the German daily newspaper Bild he lost some of his faith in FIFA over the way it awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
The other spots on FIFA's three-member executive committee are set to go to FIFA Vice President Angel Maria Villar Llona and UEFA President Michel Platini.
Author: Shant Shahrigian (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Mark Hallam