Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger rules out being Fifa president and FA chairman
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has joked that he would not run for the Fifa presidency in February's election. Wenger was asked about what his future plans would be if he ever left Arsenal, the club he joined in 1996.
"I completely commit to this club and I don't imagine at the moment to manage anywhere else," Wenger told reporters a news conference on Friday (29 January). "Will I stop to work once I do not manage again really on a competitive level? No. I will always try to work if I have health and try to be useful at some stage at some level. Maybe it will be a different level but I will always work.
"I could be managing kids, developing young players, it can be all kinds of (roles) but I will not run for the Fifa, you can count on that."
The Frenchman also ruled out becoming the next chairman of the English Football Association after Greg Dyke said he will not seek re-election when his current term ends in July. The 68-year-old had said he would stand for a further year but said that opposition to proposed governance reform to the FA council had caused him to reconsider.
Wenger said: "I think he [Dyke] is honest, strong and he wants to do things the way he sees it. And I spoke a few times with him and I think I was quite surprised that he stops. But I knew that, knowing his personality, I knew that that could happen at some stage when he could not push his ideas through that he would stop." He added: "I don't want that job. I am not qualified for that."
In the Premier League, the Gunners' have surrendered their lead and slipped to third place, three points behind leaders Leicester City, after failing to win their last three matches. Wenger admitted he was disappointed with Arsenal's January form but was hoping they could return to winning ways against Burnley in the FA Cup on Saturday (30 January).
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