South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-joon slams Blatter and Platini in bid for top post at Fifa
A former vice-president of soccer's governing body, the billionaire formally announces his challenge for the presidency
South Korean billionaire Chung Mong-joon took a swipe at incumbent Sepp Blatter and fellow candidate Michel Platini, saying they were like father and son, during his formal announcement in Paris on Monday for the Fifa presidency.
Launching his bid in a luxury hotel, Chung told a news conference "Michel Platini was a great football player, and he is my friend. His problem is he does not seem to appreciate the seriousness of the corruption crisis at Fifa".
The problem at Fifa is that those mired in corruption, the only thing they are interested in is hiding the corruption
Chung, a former Fifa vice-president and fierce critic of Blatter, repeated his view that Blatter was at the centre of the organisation's problems.
He said Platini, who heads the European governing body Uefa, should have done more to root out corruption, and that the relationship between Blatter and the Frenchman was once "that of a mentor and protégé, or a father and son".
Fifa's corruption troubles came to a head in May when US prosecutors indicted nine soccer officials, most of whom had Fifa positions, and five marketing and broadcasting company executives, over a range of alleged offences, including fraud, money-laundering and racketeering.
Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as Fifa president on May 29, but four days later said he would lay down his mandate amid the worst crisis in the body's history. He is due to step down after an election on February 26 for a replacement.
