FIFA president Sepp Blatter announcing his resignation during a press conference at the headquarters of the world’s football governing body in Zurich yesterday.

Blatter, 79, announced the decision at a hastily-arranged news conference in Zurich

Reuters
Zurich


Sepp Blatter rocked the world of soccer yesterday by unexpectedly quitting as FIFA president in the face of a corruption investigation that has plunged the game’s governing body into the worst crisis in its history.
Blatter, 79, announced the decision at a hastily-arranged news conference in Zurich, six days after police raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials and just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as president.
Blatter said an election to choose a new president for the organisation would be held as soon as possible. A FIFA official said that could happen any time from December this year to March of next year.
“FIFA needs profound restructuring,” said Blatter, a Swiss national who has been a dominating presence at FIFA for decades.
“I have thoroughly considered my presidency and thought about my presidency and the last 40 years of my life,” Blatter, speaking in French, told the news conference.
“I decided to stand again to be elected because I was convinced it was the best option for football.
“Although the members of FIFA gave me a new mandate, this mandate does not seem to be
supported by everyone in the world.”
Blatter’s decision was immediately welcomed by his most prominent critics.
European football federation chief Michel Platini, a French former international soccer star, said: “It was a difficult decision, a brave decision, and the right decision.”
Greg Dyke, chairman of the English Football Association, said it was “good news for world football”. He then asked: “Who got him? ...What happened between then (when he was elected) and now?”
FIFA, which Blatter had ruled since 1998, was left reeling this week by the announcement of a US investigation into alleged widespread financial wrongdoing stretching back for more than two decades.
The US Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Attorney’s office in Brooklyn had no immediate comment.
The office of the Swiss Attorney General, which is investigating alleged criminal mismanagement and money laundering at FIFA, said Blatter’s resignation would have no effect on its proceedings. It said Blatter himself was not subject to investigation.
While Blatter was not mentioned in either the US or Swiss investigations, there had been widespread calls for him to quit, mostly from Western nations. Some major sponsors also expressed misgivings about the impact of the scandal.
The European Commission’s spokeswoman for sport, Nathalie Vandystadt, said: “This is an important step but a lot of work remains. We now expect a long process of change that is needed to restore trust and set up a solid system of good governance at FIFA.”
Blatter had initially attempted to bat away the furore, relying on his extensive network of friends to hold on to power at FIFA.
Football associations in Africa and Asia had stood by him despite the scandal, saying they welcomed the FIFA funds he channelled to them for the development of the game in impoverished parts of the world.
The investigation however closed in on Blatter yesterday, when FIFA was forced to deny that his right-hand man, secretary-general Jerome Valcke, was implicated in a $10mn payment that lies at the heart of the US case.
Blatter became FIFA secretary general in 1981 and president 17 years later. Sport page 1

Courageous decision, says Russian minister

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko yesterday described Sepp Blatter’s decision to step down as FIFA president as “courageous” and said it would help prevent a split within soccer’s governing body. Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed Blatter and accused the United States of meddling outside its jurisdiction in seeking the arrest of top officials from FIFA. “For the soccer family this decision is unexpected, but it is his decision, a courageous decision, with love for FIFA,” Mutko said. Russia is to hold the 2018 soccer World Cup, a competition it was granted the right to hold under Blatter’s tenure.