Sepp Blatter resigned as Fifa president yesterday in the face of a US-led corruption investigation that has plunged world soccer’s governing body into the worst crisis in its history.
Blatter, 79, announced the decision at a news conference in Zurich, Switzerland, six days after the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several Fifa officials and just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as president.
Blatter said an election to choose a new Fifa president would be held as soon as possible.
“Fifa needs profound restructuring,” he said.
Fifa, ruled over by Blatter since 1998, was rocked this week by the announcement of a US investigation into alleged widespread financial wrongdoing stretching back for years.
Swiss authorities mounted their own criminal probe into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
The US Justice Department and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Blatter initially attempted to bat away the furore, relying on his network of friends to hold onto power at Fifa, which he joined in 1975.
While Blatter was not mentioned in either the US or Swiss investigations, there were widespread calls for him to quit, mostly from Western nations.
Some major sponsors also expressed misgivings about the impact of the scandal.
Switzerland’s office of attorney general said yesterday it was not investigating Blatter and that his resignation would have no influence on the ongoing criminal proceedings.
The attorney general, which has opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering alongside a far wider US corruption investigation into Fifa, said it would release no further information.
The investigation, however, moved close to Blatter yesterday, when Fifa was forced to deny that his right-hand man, secretary-general Jerome Valcke, was implicated in a $10-million (R122-million) payment that lies at the heart of the US case.
South Africa, who hosted the 2010 soccer World Cup, was drawn into the drama with the allegation that the government approved the transfer of the $10-million
(R122-million) for what Fifa said was to “support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy”.
A US indictment alleges the payment was actually a bribe to then head of regional football body Concacaf‚ Jack Warner‚ in exchange for votes in favour of SA winning the right to host the 2010 tournament.
But at the same time, a letter addressed to Valcke was published outlining the transaction.
Valcke, who has been secretary-general since 2007 and is seen as one of the most powerful men in world sport, had no role in the payments authorised by the chairman of Fifa’s finance committee, Fifa said in an earlier statement.
The chairman of the committee at the time of the payments was Argentina’s Julio Grondona, who died last year.
A person familiar with the matter said on Monday that US prosecutors believe Valcke made the $10-million (R122-million) bank transactions which are central to a US bribery probe against Fifa.
l See earlier report, page 7
Blatter steps down as Fifa boss amid scandal
Blatter, 79, announced the decision at a news conference in Zurich, Switzerland, six days after the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several Fifa officials and just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as president.
Blatter said an election to choose a new Fifa president would be held as soon as possible.
“Fifa needs profound restructuring,” he said.
Fifa, ruled over by Blatter since 1998, was rocked this week by the announcement of a US investigation into alleged widespread financial wrongdoing stretching back for years.
Swiss authorities mounted their own criminal probe into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
The US Justice Department and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Blatter initially attempted to bat away the furore, relying on his network of friends to hold onto power at Fifa, which he joined in 1975.
While Blatter was not mentioned in either the US or Swiss investigations, there were widespread calls for him to quit, mostly from Western nations.
Some major sponsors also expressed misgivings about the impact of the scandal.
Switzerland’s office of attorney general said yesterday it was not investigating Blatter and that his resignation would have no influence on the ongoing criminal proceedings.
The attorney general, which has opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering alongside a far wider US corruption investigation into Fifa, said it would release no further information.
The investigation, however, moved close to Blatter yesterday, when Fifa was forced to deny that his right-hand man, secretary-general Jerome Valcke, was implicated in a $10-million (R122-million) payment that lies at the heart of the US case.
South Africa, who hosted the 2010 soccer World Cup, was drawn into the drama with the allegation that the government approved the transfer of the $10-million
(R122-million) for what Fifa said was to “support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy”.
A US indictment alleges the payment was actually a bribe to then head of regional football body Concacaf‚ Jack Warner‚ in exchange for votes in favour of SA winning the right to host the 2010 tournament.
But at the same time, a letter addressed to Valcke was published outlining the transaction.
Valcke, who has been secretary-general since 2007 and is seen as one of the most powerful men in world sport, had no role in the payments authorised by the chairman of Fifa’s finance committee, Fifa said in an earlier statement.
The chairman of the committee at the time of the payments was Argentina’s Julio Grondona, who died last year.
A person familiar with the matter said on Monday that US prosecutors believe Valcke made the $10-million (R122-million) bank transactions which are central to a US bribery probe against Fifa.
l See earlier report, page 7
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