Update: FIFA PRESIDENT BLATTER RESIGNS, CALLS FOR NEW PRESIDENT TO BE ELECTED
Below is his full resignation speech:
I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the 40 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 that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is over but Fifa’s challenges are not.
Fifa needs a profound overhaul. 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 as much as we all do at Fifa.
Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as Fifa president until that election. The next ordinary Fifa Congress will take place on 13 May 2016 in Mexico City.
This would create unnecessary delay and I will urge the executive committee to organise an extraordinary congress for the election of my successor at the earliest opportunity.
This will need to be done in line with Fifa’s statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign. Since I shall not be a candidate, and am therefore now free from the constraints that elections inevitably impose, I shall be able to focus on driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms that transcend our previous efforts.
For years, we have worked hard to put in place administrative reforms, but it is plain to me that while these must continue, they are not enough. The executive committee includes representatives of confederations over whom we have no control, but for whose actions Fifa is held responsible.
We need deep-rooted structural change. The size of the executive committee must be reduced and its members should be elected through the Fifa Congress.
The integrity checks for all executive committee members must be organised centrally through Fifa and not through the confederations. We need term limits not only for the president but for all members of the executive committee. I have fought for these changes before and, as everyone knows, my efforts have been blocked.
This time, I will succeed. I cannot do this alone. I have asked Domenico Scala to oversee the introduction and implementation of these and other measures. Mr Scala is the independent chairman of our Audit and Compliance Committee elected by the Fifa Congress. He is also the chairman of the ad hoc electoral committee and, as such, he will oversee the election of my successor.
Mr Scala enjoys the confidence of a wide range of constituents within and outside of Fifa and has all the knowledge and experience necessary to help tackle these major reforms. It is my deep care for Fifa and its interests, which I hold very dear, that has led me to take this decision. I would like to thank those who have always supported me in a constructive and loyal manner as president of Fifa and who have done so much for the game that we all love. What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner.
Which is as we predicted [5]a week ago. Recall:
What happens next? Sepp Blatter's reelection this coming Friday, which until yesterday had been guaranteed, is now virtually assured to fail as Putin's frontman at FIFA is shown the door. What else likely happens? Following some dramatic procedural changes, Russia loses the hosting of the 2018 World Cup.
And now, let's see how FIFA strips Russia of its 2018 World Cup hosting [5], which also as noted previously, was the entire reason for the sudden and unexpected DOJ crackdown on FIFA, whose corruption has been well known for decades.
As for Qatar, generous donor to the Clinton Foundation [6], and host of the 2022 World Cup, we don't expect much if anything to change there.
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Following overnight news [7]that yet another former FIFX executive, this time Jerome Valcker, former top deputy to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, may be involved in the latest money laundering and corruption scandal, one involving a $10 million transfer of funds, which has been presented as an alleged payment of bribes over South Africa's bid to host the 2010 World Cup, moments ago the FIFA president announced he would hold an imprompty press conference. Will Blatter finally announced his resignation? Find out now.
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