SEPP SAYS HE DIDN’T QUIT FIFA
Fears he’ll try to cling on to job
SEPP BLATTER has fuelled speculation about his future by insisting he has not resigned and is ‘not ready for a museum or for a waxwork’.
The 79-year-old FIFA president announced on June 2 he would step down at an extraordinary congress to be held between December and March and would ‘not be a candidate’ for re-election. His decision followed the crisis that engulfed FIFA, with 18 people indicted in the USA on corruption charges.
Now, in what is seen by some as a mischievous attempt to unsettle his critics, Blatter used his first public appearance since then — at the FIFA Museum in Zurich — to say: ‘I have not resigned, I put my mandate in the hands of an extraordinary congress.’
A FIFA source insisted however that Blatter has no intention of standing as a candidate again, saying: ‘Nothing has changed, he is not going to stand.’
It follows reports in the Swiss media that Blatter may consider putting his name forward again after being contacted by supportive national associations.
Blatter (below) also told Swiss newspaper Blick he was ‘not ready for a museum, or for a waxwork’, adding: ‘Only those who know the past can understand the present and shape the future. Or in other words: the ball is round but only those who come from outer space know the actual dimensions of our sport.’
Blatter is said to be under investigation by the FBI and his attendance at the women’s World Cup final in Canada is in doubt due to the investigations by American and Swiss authorities. A source close to FIFA said the crisis is having a bearing over whether Blatter travels to Canada next week. The Swiss attorney general is also investigating the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Blatter would normally attend the final and hand over the trophy to the winners but a FIFA spokesperson said: ‘In terms of the FIFA president and the FIFA secretary general (Jerome Valcke), their future travel plans will be confirmed in due course.’
One of seven officials arrested in Zurich last month on suspicion of racketeering has had a request for bail rejected, with a Swiss court saying yesterday he posed a ‘risk of flight’. Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel, Jose Maria Marin and Costas Takkas were detained in a dawn raid on May 27 at a Zurich hotel two days before FIFA’s annual congress.
They have since been held in prison as US prosecutors continue their investigation into complex money laundering schemes, millions of dollars in untaxed incomes and tens of millions in offshore accounts.
The Swiss Federal Criminal Court statement described the defendant as a ‘FIFA official’ without naming him, but Swiss media widely identified the defendant as 83- year- old Figueredo, a former president of the Uruguayan FA and South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
The court statement read: ‘The arguments put forward in support of his release, such as his advanced age and poor state of health, were not regarded as sufficient to counter the risk of absconding.
‘The court held that there was a risk that the appellant would abscond if released. The court took into account that appellant has no close ties to Switzerland and is more than capable of travelling long distances.