Blatter launches election bid

SOCCER:SEPP BLATTER has launched his manifesto to be elected for a fourth term as Fifa's president on a ticket of transparency and with a pledge to invest €1 billion to aid the development of football worldwide.

The Swiss is expected to receive the backing of Michel Platini, the Uefa president, before the vote that will take place at Fifa’s annual congress next month.

Blatter told the 208 member associations Fifa needed “evolution not revolution”.

Blatter’s manifesto also stated that there will be “transparency and control of Fifa revenues via annual external audits, available for download from fifa.com.”

Mohamed Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation and Blatter’s rival for the presidency, has also offered financial incentives by doubling the support handed out to each of Fifa’s member associations to €345,000 a year.

West Ham United striker Carlton Cole has been fined €22,000 for Twitter comments made during England’s friendly against Ghana at Wembley last month. Cole admitted a charge of improper conduct at a regulatory hearing and was warned about his future behaviour.

“Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! Hahahaha,” the striker wrote on the social networking site before deleting the message.

Cole, who won the last of his seven England caps in March, later apologised for the comments and said they were not to be taken seriously.

“Cole was charged with improper conduct in relation to media comments made on the social media site Twitter on 29 March 2011,” the FA said in a statement.

“Having admitted the charge and requested a personal hearing, Cole was warned and fined £20,000.”

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter was appointed to the board of his AC Milan at its annual meeting yesterday.

Barbara Berlusconi joins the 74-year-old’s son, Paolo, as a director of the seven-time European champions, which also announced that its annual loss widened to €69.8 million from €9.8 million as broadcasting revenue and income from player sales declined.

“Barbara’s appointment should give optimism to all the supporters,” chief executive officer Adriano Galliani said yesterday.

“It reflects a renewed commitment to AC Milan by the Berlusconi family, who have always supported the team.”