FIFA’s Blatter expects 2016 election

Sepp Blatter says his decision to leave FIFA was “liberating” and he expects the election to replace him will be in early 2016.

In an interview published Saturday, Blatter explained why on June 2 he announced his planned FIFA exit amid American and Swiss investigations of corruption in world soccer.

“It was the only way to take away the pressure from FIFA and my employees, including (pressure) from the sponsors,” Blatter told his local Walliser Bote newspaper in Geneva. “To remove FIFA and me personally from the line of fire.”

Blatter was asked “hand on heart” if he would renege on his promise to go.

“I am not a candidate, but the elected president,” Blatter said. “And I want to hand over FIFA in good condition.”

That is likely to be next year, he suggested, at a special election congress of FIFA’s 209 member federations in Zurich.

Blatter, 79, said the “realistic” date was the beginning of 2016, to prepare a four-month election campaign required by FIFA rules and avoid a clash with the Club World Cup. That tournament in Japan is scheduled Dec. 10-20.

Blatter has pledged to drive through modernizing reforms that could be approved at the election congress.

“The key to this is strengthening democracy in the ‘FIFA government,’ ” he said. “There should not be a redistribution of the places on the executive committee, but an appropriate expansion of the body.”

Blatter said Asia and Africa were not democratically represented on the executive committee he has chaired as president since 1998. The two continents combine for 100 FIFA members but have only nine of 25 voting seats on the ruling panel.