adminZurich — Fifa President Sepp Blatter has rejected an emotional plea to resign from one of the world’s soccer greats yesterday as the corruption scandal engulfing the game’s governing body drew warnings from sponsors and political leaders.As Fifa faced the worst crisis in its 111-year history, Michel Platini, the former French international who now heads UEFA, Europe’s soccer confederation, said he had told Blatter to go but the 79-year-old had refused.
“I said, I’m asking you to leave, Fifa’s image is terrible. He said that he couldn’t leave all of a sudden,” Platini told a news conference.
“I’m saying this with sadness and tears in my eyes, but there have been too many scandals, Fifa doesn’t deserve to be treated that way,” Platini said, speaking after an emergency Fifa meeting in Zurich earlier in the day.
Platini said 45 or 46 of UEFA’s 53 eligible member associations would vote for Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein to succeed Blatter at an election due today.
But it appeared that Blatter still commanded enough of Fifa’s 209 member associations and could expect to be anointed for a fifth term as president.
Despite Fifa assertions that it was business as usual following the arrest of seven senior figures on US corruption charges, Blatter kept out of public view yesterday when he failed to show up at a medical conference.
Fifa’s medical chief Michel D’Hooghe told the medical officers: “President Blatter apologises for not being able to come today (yesterday) because of the turbulences you’ve heard about.”
Those “turbulences” included a dawn raid by plainclothes police at one of Zurich’s most luxurious hotels on Wednesday leaving seven of the most powerful figures in football in custody and facing extradition to the United States on corruption charges. They are all contesting extradition but lawyers said the process could be completed within months.
Swiss authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups being hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
US authorities said nine football officials and five sports media and promotions executives faced corruption charges involving more than $150 million in bribes.
Blatter, who has denied allegations of involvement in corruption, said in a statement on Wednesday: “Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we’ll ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game.”
Former World Footballer of the Year Luis Figo, of Portugal, said the day the scandal erupted was “one of the worst days in the history of Fifa”.
Meanwhile, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said yesterday that the scandal-tainted football body faces “more bad news” and that officials accused of corruption had brought shame and humiliation on the organisation.
Blatter did not raise the many calls made for him to resign or today’s election, as he opened Fifa’s annual congress one day after seven top football officials were arrested as part of a US corruption inquiry.
“The next few months will not be easy for Fifa. I’m sure more bad news will follow but it is necessary to begin to restore trust,” Blatter told the congress.
“We cannot allow the reputation of football and Fifa to be dragged through the mud any longer. It has to stop here,” he added.
Blatter called the scandals “unprecedented” and said the “actions of individuals bring shame and humiliation on football and demand action and change from us all.” “The events of yesterday have cast a long shadow over football and over this week’s congress.”
The football president said Fifa cannot be an “exception” to rules on corruption and added “we will cooperate with all authorities to make sure that anyone involved in wrongdoing — from top to bottom — will be discovered and punished.”
Despite the storm, Blatter is favourite to win a fifth term in a vote at the congress today. His only challenger is Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan, a Fifa vice president, who has called for widespread reforms. — Reuters.
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