21 Oct 2009

Blatter wants to stay on at Fifa

10:05 am on 21 October 2009

FIFA President Sepp Blatter will seek to stay in charge of world football's governing body after 2011 because of the raft of new initiatives he wants to push through.

The 73-year-old Swiss says he's not finished his mission in football and he needs more time.

Ideas to improve football include the trial of extra officials to monitor the penalty box in the Europa League and Blatter's 6+5 plan to increase the number of homegrown players at clubs, which is opposed by the European Commission.

Blatter, head of FIFA since 1998 and whose current term runs to 2011, says he has no alternative but to launch a probe into Argentina coach Diego Maradona's obscenity-filled outburst after his side reached the World Cup last week.

The late decision to use seedings for the European World Cup playoffs was widely criticised and Blatter acknowledged the situation could have been handled better.