Update: 1:19PM Sepp Blatter has announced he will resign as president of FIFA in a stunning capitulation to critics as a mounting corruption scandal engulfed world soccer’s governing body.
“I don’t feel I have a mandate from the entire world of football,”
Blatter, who defiantly rejected calls to quit for several months, calmly told a
press conference at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters.
The 79-year-old Swiss official, FIFA president for 17 years and only reelected
on Friday, said he would remain in charge until a special congress can choose a
new leader.
“I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed that this was
the best thing for the organisation,” he said on a day in which new
revelations about doubtful payments put pressure on the governing body.
“That election is over but FIFA’s challenges are not. FIFA needs a
profound overhaul,” Blatter added.
“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.
The arrest of seven FIFA officials in a Zurich hotel last week, as part of a US
corruption inquiry, and a Swiss police investigation into the award of the 2018
and 2022 World Cup to Russia and Qatar proved the final straw.
The seven are among 14 football officials and sports marketing executives
accused by US prosecutors over more than $150 million of bribes.
Blatter had repeatedly pleaded his innocence and that of FIFA over the
corruption.
“It is my deep care for FIFA and its interests, which I hold very
dear, that has led me to take this decision,” Blatter said.
“What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over,
football is the winner.”
