ZURICH: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has appeared to offer his approval of the idea that Michel Platini, French president of European federation UEFA, could take over from him at the top of the FIFA pyramid/

Blatter, 75, has said he will step down in 2015 when his fourth term comes to an end. He said, in an interview with Paris magazine France Football, that he thought the Frenchman would make a good president of FIFA – though Platini himself has avoided committing himself.

“Michel Platini is ready, if he wants,” said Blatter. “He says ‘I don’t know yet…’ but deep inside, he wants it. Of  course he will be a good president. He will not be the same president that I am because everyone is different but he will be a good president.”