Zurich : Sepp Blatter’s shock resignation as FIFA president failed on Wednesday to end the corruption storm surrounding football’s world body that now even threatens to touch him.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now looking into Blatter’s role in tens of millions of dollars of bribes given to football officials, according to US media. Interpol meanwhile put six other suspects, including two former FIFA executive members, on its most wanted list.
Critics of the 79-year-old Swiss official rejoiced at his thunderbolt announcement on Tuesday that he would stand down as soon as an election can be held to find a successor. His decision sparked a global race to take over as head of the world’s richest and most powerful sporting federation.
South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-Joon, Prince Ali bin al Hussein, who was beaten by Blatter in a vote last Friday, and Brazilian football legend Zico all said they could take part.
Most eyes remain on Michel Platini, the UEFA president who has not given a hint of his plans. But Platini did call off a meeting of the European confederation to discuss the FIFA crisis in Berlin on Saturday because of the “uncertain and unpredictable events” surrounding the world body.
Blatter, who has ruled FIFA for 17 years, won a fifth term in an election on Friday but renewed criticism of his reign and new corruption revelations about FIFA forced him into a corner.
“While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football,” he told a press conference late Tuesday to explain his decision.
Blatter vowed that in his remaining months in office he would “focus on driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms that transcend our previous efforts.”
US authorities have charged 14 football officials and sports company executives over more than $150 million in bribes. US Attorney General Loretta Lynch refused Wednesday to comment on reports that Blatter is also a FBI target.
The New York Times, which broke news of seven arrests before the FIFA congress last week, quoted law enforcement officials and other sources to back their report that the FIFA chief is now in line.
ABC News said Blatter was part of the larger probe that led to the arrest of seven FIFA officials in a luxury Swiss hotel last Wednesday. “Now that people are going to want to save themselves, there’s probably a race to see who will flip on (Blatter) first,” one source told ABC News. “We are not able to comment further on the nature of other individuals who may or may not be,” Lynch told reporters at a meeting in the Latvia capital Riga. —PTI
