Blatter: No deal with UEFA chief Platini

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has denied reports that he plans to hand over power to UEFA chief Michel Platini before the end of his final four-year tenure as the head of world football’s governing body.

Blatter, 75, was elected unopposed for a fourth term in June after allegations of bribery and corruption led to the suspension of his sole opponent – the former head of the Asian Football Confederation, Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar.

Former France international Platini was voted in for a second term as head of European football’s ruling body in March, and also serves as a FIFA vice-president.

A report from ESPN on Tuesday claimed a deal had been struck between Blatter and Platini which would see the former European Footballer of the Year assume FIFA’s top job in two years.

“The existence of a reported ‘deal’ between me and Michel Platini for the FIFA Presidency is pure nonsense,” Blatter wrote on his official account on social networking site Twitter.

“The suggestion that I intend to stop my four-year mandate before its end is simply ridiculous.”

It has been a troubled 12 months for FIFA, with officials Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii both receiving bans from the organization in November 2010.

Nigeria’s Adamu and Temarii of Tahiti were accused of offering to sell their votes during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Adamu’s appeal against his three-year ban will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on October 4.

Bin Hammam, who was Asian president when Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament, was then suspended in May and subsequently handed a lifetime ban from football for allegedly offering bribes in exchange for support in June’s presidential ballot.

The 62-year-old denies the charges and his appeal hearing against the ban will be heard on Thursday.