HOW MUCH LONGER CAN HE CLING ON?
Cameron demands resignation of bribe furore football chief as Putin says probe is plot against Russia
SEPP Blatter appeared on the brink of losing his decades-long grip on world football yesterday. european teams threatened to boycott the World Cup if Mr Blatter continues as Fifa president despite the £100million corruption probe engulfing the governing body.
Uefa president Michel Platini said he had begged the 79-year-old, who is seeking a fifth term, to step down ahead of today’s leadership ballot.
Platini said most of europe – including Britain – would vote for Mr Blatter’s rival, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.
The prince claims he has enough support to win. However Mr Blatter continues to enjoy the support of Africa and Asia – the two big voting blocs needed to win an election. He also has backers in South America, though perhaps not as many as in the past.
David Cameron and FA chief Greg Dyke backed calls for Mr Blatter to resign and voiced their support for his rival.
But Vladimir Putin accused the West of meddling in an attempt to take the 2018 World Cup away from hosts Russia.
The Russian president said he found it ‘odd’ that the corruption arrests were carried out at the request of the US and described them as an ‘ obvious attempt’ to derail Mr Blatter’s re-election.
Before the scandal broke, Mr Blatter, Fifa president for 17 years, had been expected to win about 150 votes from the 209 member football associations.
The African and Asian confederations reiterated their support for him yesterday and pressed for today’s election at Fifa’s annual congress in Zurich to proceed.
South African Football Association spokesman Dominic Chimhavi said: ‘The current president has been a good friend to the continent and he’s the right person to lead the federation forward.
‘We haven’t been given enough information to know what has really transpired. We will be sticking to the Confederation of Africa Football resolution [to vote for Blatter].’
Mr Blatter attempted to ride out the scandal yesterday as he appeared in public for the first time since the dramatic arrest on Wednesday of seven top Fifa officials. Those held in a dawn raid on a five-star hotel in Zurich included Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb.
The US Department of Justice has charged 18 people over alleged bribes totalling almost £100million paid for television rights, sponsorship deals and World Cup votes. The indictment alleges South Africa paid £6.5million to disgraced former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner for votes to host the 2010 World Cup – with the money being channelled through a Fifa bank account authorised by an unnamed high-ranking Fifa official.
In a separate development, the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings over the award process that decided who should host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and will question ten current Fifa executive committee members who voted.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Fifa congress, Mr Blatter denied he could be held responsible for the scandal but warned there could be more ‘bad news’ to come.
He said: ‘I know many people hold me ultimately responsible for the action and reputation for the global football community, whether it is a decision for the hosting of a World Cup or a corruption scandal. I cannot monitor everyone all of the time – if people want to do wrong, they will also try to hide it.’
But Scottish investigative journalist Andrew Jennings, who published corruption allegations against the Fifa president in 2002, claimed on Twitter that Mr Blatter would be drawn into the probe.
He tweeted: ‘I gave the FBI the crucial documents that triggered yesterday’s arrests. There will be more to come. Blatter is a target.’
Mr Blatter said it was time to ‘restore trust’ in football’s governing body – comments which will infuriate critics who have said Fifa cannot change while he remains at the helm.
FA chairman Mr Dyke said: ‘There is no way of rebuilding trust in Fifa while Sepp Blatter is still there... He either has to go through a resignation, or he has to be out-voted or we have to find a third way.’
Culture, Media and Sport Secretary John Whittingdale said a
‘A good friend to Africa’
change in leadership was ‘ very badly needed’ and urged sponsors to review their relationships with the troubled body.
He said a boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia was the ‘nuclear option’ as it would hit fans. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office was examining the allegations made by US and Swiss authorities, he added. But he said it was too early to say if england’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup should be re-run, adding: ‘We should wait and see what the outcome of the investigation is.’
Former Uefa president Lennart Johansson said the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar should be reviewed. He suggested the 2018 tournament should be held in england, which bid unsuccessfully to host it.
‘Can’t rebuild trust with him in charge’