FIFA crisis: Sepp Blatter could stay on as president

According to Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, Sepp Blatter is reconsidering his resignation and could seek to stay on as FIFA president.

Blatter spectacularly resigned in early June just a few days after being re-elected FIFA president for a fifth term.

“I don’t feel I have a mandate from the entire world of football,” Blatter calmly told a press conference at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters after defiantly rejecting calls to quit for several months.

“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.

“This is why I will call an extraordinary congress to be held as soon as possible, for a new president to be elected to follow me.”

The paper cited an unnamed source close to Blatter, claiming that the Swiss “had received messages of support from African and Asian football associations” asking him to rethink his decision to step down.

World football’s governing body will set a date for the new presidential election next month which is expected to take place in mid-December.

Meanwhile, the European parliament as urged Blatter to walk away from the top job immediately, to which FIFA responded by saying it was ‘perplexed’ by the calls from the parliament.

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The news of Blatter’s rethink comes just days after FIFA’s former director of communications and public affairs Walter De Gregorio also announced his resignation from world football’s governing body after making a joke about the organisation itself.

The paper reports that De Gregorio had been a leading voice in the clamour for a new start at FIFA and that his differences with Blatter were insurmountable.

Our view

Playing for 90 football writer Fabian Funes, in a recent article, wrote that football’s fundamental goal of being more than a sport means Sepp Blatter must go.

"“The situation is getting critical and these are the claims that have only just come out with a few days into the investigation. Although this is not too shocking for many of us; I can assure you that there will be more shocking allegations to come. These men attempted to make a mockery of something that is divine but it is not the ball, but their names that will be left in the dirt.We must understand that this is a necessity for the sport of football. That we may finally rid ourselves of the leeches that used our sport to shamelessly fatten their pockets. I hope that Greg Dyke’s prediction is correct and the law has Sepp Blatter incarcerated for his display of apathy towards the art of football. The fanatics have been dormant in regards to most of the dealings within FIFA and other organizations. This is the moment that can bring all around beauty back to the game and each of us must do their part.”"

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