Blatter’s grounding hits Fifa
WORLD soccer’s governing body, Fifa, said yesterday it would discuss a possible new venue and date for an executive committee meeting scheduled for Japan in December.
The announcement came amid uncertainty over whether Fifa president Sepp Blatter would make the trip. He has largely avoided travel since the US indicted 14 sports marketing executives and soccer officials, including several from Fifa, on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges.
Blatter has not been accused of any wrongdoing but retains an attorney. Some lawyers with experience in international criminal cases have said Blatter would be ill advised to travel since the US indictments were announced in May.
Blatter said in July that he was playing safe.
Fifa’s executive committee meets in Zurich tomorrow and Friday and the final item on the meeting’s agenda is listed as “decision on the date and place of the next meeting”.
A Fifa spokeswoman confirmed the matter was under review and gave no reason for the discussion.
Fifa’s final executive committee meeting of the year traditionally takes place in the same country as the Club World Cup tournament, which is returning to Japan in December after being held in Abu Dhabi and Morocco in previous years.
Seven of those accused in the scandal were arrested by Swiss police in a dawn raid on a Zurich hotel two days before the Fifa congress at which Blatter was reelected for a fifth term.
Blatter shocked the soccer world on June 2 by announcing he would resign. He is staying in office until a successor is chosen at an extraordinary congress on February 26.
Since then, his only official trip abroad has been to Russia for the World Cup qualifying draw late in July.
The soccer governing body also confirmed that Brazilian executive committee member Marco Polo del Nero had failed to attend a meeting in Zurich on Monday of the Olympic Football Tournaments organising committee, which he chairs.
Del Nero, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, also missed the May congress in Zurich.