FIFA president Sepp Blatter, right, and Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, left. Source: AP
FIFA President Sepp Blatter will resign from football’s governing body amid a widening corruption scandal and has promised to call for fresh elections to choose a successor.
The 79-year-old Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term on Friday, two days after a corruption crisis erupted and seven soccer officials were arrested in Zurich ahead of the FIFA congress.
ABC News reports that that Blatter is being investigated by the FBI and U.S. prosecutors as part of the probe that led to last week’s stunning indictments.
“Now that people are going to want to save themselves, there’s probably a race to see who will flip on [Blatter] first,” one source said, explaining how the feds typically try to get people to inform on their superiors.
“We may not be able to collapse the whole organization but maybe you don’t need to,” one of the sources said.
“This mandate does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football,” Blatter said Tuesday at a hastily arranged news conference. “FIFA needs a profound restructuring.”Elections are expected to take place sometime between December and March.
“I will continue to exercise my function (until the new election),” Blatter said.
Blatter said he reached the decision after he “thoroughly considered my presidency and … (about) the last 40 years in my life.”
“I have thoroughly thought about my presidency and the 40 years FIFA- has played in my life. I love Fifa more than anything else and I only want to do the best. I decided to stand again for election for the good of football,” he said.
Jordanian Prince Ali bin al Hussein will stand in new elections after failing in his bid last week to oust Blatter.
“As for new elections, Prince Ali is ready,” Sala Sabra, vice-president of the Jordanian football federation which the prince heads up, told AFP.
The prince, Sabra added, was also ready “to take up the presidency immediately if they ask him”.
The prince had already earned Australia’s support prior to last week’s vote.
“The vote secured by Prince Ali was not insignificant and reflects a belief within FIFA and the world football community that governance and other reforms need to be implemented as soon as possible,” FFA chairman Frank Lowy said in a statement after the vote.
Blatter joined FIFA in 1975 as technical director for development projects, was promoted to general secretary in 1981 and spent 17 years as right-hand man to Joao Havelange of Brazil before being elected to lead world soccer.
The new election will be overseen by Domenico Scala, chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee.
Scala gave a statement immediately after Blatter in which he praised a decision that was “difficult and courageous in the current circumstances.”
“This is the most responsible way to ensure an orderly transition,” Scala said.
Read a full transcript of Sepp Blatter’s statement:
I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the 40 years in which my life has been inextricably bound to Fifa and the great sport of football. I cherish Fifa more than anything and I want to do only what is best for Fifa and for football. I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is over but Fifa’s challenges are not. Fifa needs a profound overhaul.
While I have a mandate from the membership of Fifa, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at Fifa. Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as Fifa President until that election. The next ordinary Fifa Congress will take place on 13 May 2016 in Mexico City. This would create unnecessary delay and I will urge the Executive Committee to organise an Extraordinary Congress for the election of my successor at the earliest opportunity. This will need to be done in line with Fifa’s statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign. Since I shall not be a candidate, and am therefore now free from the constraints that elections inevitably impose, I shall be able to focus on driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms that transcend our previous efforts.
Sepp Blatter takes his eye off the ball. Picture: AP Photo/Diether Endlicher Source: AP
For years, we have worked hard to put in place administrative reforms, but it is plain to me that while these must continue, they are not enough. The Executive Committee includes representatives of confederations over whom we have no control, but for whose actions Fifa is held responsible. We need deep-rooted structural change. The size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected through the Fifa Congress. The integrity checks for all Executive Committee members must be organised centrally through Fifa and not through the confederations. We need term limits not only for the president but for all members of the Executive Committee. I have fought for these changes before and, as everyone knows, my efforts have been blocked.
This time, I will succeed. I cannot do this alone. I have asked Domenico Scala to oversee the introduction and implementation of these and other measures. Mr Scala is the Independent Chairman of our Audit and Compliance Committee elected by the Fifa Congress. He is also the Chairman of the ad hoc Electoral Committee and, as such, he will oversee the election of my successor. Mr Scala enjoys the confidence of a wide range of constituents within and outside of Fifa and has all the knowledge and experience necessary to help tackle these major reforms. It is my deep care for Fifa and its interests, which I hold very dear, that has led me to take this decision. I would like to thank those who have always supported me in a constructive and loyal manner as President of Fifa and who have done so much for the game that we all love. What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner.
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 