Soccer chief stepping down
Blatter says FIFA needs restructuring; his exit is still months away.
Sepp Blatter, who led world soccer’s governing body for 17 years and had just won re- election for a fifth four- year term, said he was resigning during a news conference in Zurich on Tuesday evening, days after the announcement of an international corruption inquiry.
In a short speech delivered at the headquarters of the International Federation of Association Football, which is known by its French acronym, FIFA, Blatter said “FIFA needs a profound restructuring” and that he had decided to step away from the organization, where he had worked in various positions for 40 years.
Blatter, 79, who spoke in French, then referred to his recent re- election by FIFA’s 209- member nations when he said, “Although the members of FIFA have given me the new mandate, this mandate does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football.”
Blatter’s resignation is not immediate. A special meeting of FIFA’s member nations will be called to elect a new president, said Domenico Scala, the independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee. According to FIFA’s rules, there must be at least four months’ notice given to members for such a meeting, so Scala indicated that the likely window for a new election is from December to March.
Blatter will continue his duties in the meantime, but will focus on an overhaul program that he said would be driven by Scala.
“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,” Blatter said. “We need deep- rooted structural change.”
Blatter mentioned several components of change that he found necessary, including a reshaping of the powerful executive committee. He also noted the importance of term limits.
Scala, in his remarks, said “nothing will be off the table” in terms of changes for FIFA. Changes could include a greater focus on transparency — including publishing the compensation earned by the president and executive committee members — as well as more stringent and uniform integrity checks, a proposal that had been previously rejected by members.
“There is significant work to be done in order to regain the trust of the public and to fundamentally reform the way in which people see FIFA,” Scala said. “These steps will ensure that the organization cannot be used by those seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the game.”
Pressure on Blatter mounted in recent days, beginning even before Friday’s FIFA Congress, at which he was re- elected.
Two days before the election, Swiss police officials — acting on behalf of U. S. authorities — arrested several top soccer officials, including two FIFA vice presidents, at a five- star Zurich hotel. The U. S. Department of Justice handed down a 47- count indictment alleging widespread corruption within the organization.
The Swiss police also revealed that day that a separate investigation, which is focused on purported improprieties involving the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments, had led investigators to seize documents and records from FIFA’s offices.
Blatter was not directly implicated in either investigation, but The New York Times reported Monday that Blatter’s top deputy, Jerome Valcke, had been identified by U. S. officials as a person linked to wire transfers involving bank payments believed to be bribes related to World Cup bids.
Valcke denied any involvement, and FIFA released a statement Tuesday morning in response to the article that tried to distance Valcke from the transaction.