South Korea's Chung Mong-joon said that his French rival for the presidency of FIFA, Michel Platini, was too close to outgoing chief Sepp Blatter to be right for the job as head of football's scandal-hit governing body.
UEFA boss Michel Platini Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Launching his bid for the role in Paris, Chung told a news conference: "Michel Platini was a great football player, and he is my good friend. His problem is he does not seem to appreciate the seriousness of the corruption crisis at FIFA."
Platini, the head of European governing body UEFA who joined the increasingly heated race for the top FIFA job last month, was not immediately available for comment.
The former French international has described Blatter as a friend, but has repeatedly called on him to quit since May when corruption allegations against FIFA came to a head and has said the scandal turned his stomach.
Former FIFA vice president Chung said Platini, who has been a FIFA executive committee member since 2002, should have done more to root out corruption.
"Recently, Platini said Blatter is his enemy, but we know the relationship was like mentor and protege, or father and son," the 63-year-old billionaire scion of South Korea's Hyundai industrial conglomerate said.