FIFA President Sepp Blatter Resigns After Corruption Scandal – blogged by @LoveRubyWoo

After 17 long years as head of the international governing body of soccer, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has decided to resign from his position. This decision comes amidst a massive corruption scandal that has taken FIFA by storm and exposed many top officials for their participation in bribery, money laundering, fraud, and collusion over the past few years. Last Friday, Blatter was re-elected as president but just days later, he decided it would be in the organization’s best interest if he stepped down. However, Blatter will remain in his current position until a new president is elected, which likely won’t happen until late this year or early next year.

At a surprise press conference today, Blatter spoke on why he felt it was his time to go:

“I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the forty years in which my life has been inextricably bound to FIFA and the great sport of football. I cherish FIFA more than anything and I want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football. I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed this was the best thing for the organization. That election is over but FIFA’s challenges are not. FIFA needs a profound overhaul.”

While Blatter’s desire for change within the organization may be sincere, pressure from outside parties following the FIFA scandal probably played a big role in Blatter’s decision to step down as well.

Blatter was elected to be president of the organization in 1998, becoming the 8th FIFA president, and has been re-elected four times since then. However, throughout his reign, there have been allegations of bribery and corruption relating to the FIFA tournament bidding process as well as claims of financial mismanagement. This past May, after an ongoing investigation by the FBI, seven officials were arrested for their participation in bribery. The officials received approximately $150 million in bribes, which were used to secure media and marketing rights for FIFA games, clothing sponsorship contracts, and tournament location bids. 

Though Blatter has not been directly named as one of the individuals who participated in these crimes, some of his closest associates have been discovered to be involved, including FIFA’s secretary general and Blatter’s top lieutenant Jerome Valcke. It doesn’t seem very possible that some of the people closest to Blatter could commit these crimes without him being at least somewhat aware of it. If he was in some way involved, I doubt it will be long before the truth comes to light.