[Mr. Blatter was not directly implicated in either investigation, but The New York Times reported late Monday that Mr. Blatter’s top deputy, Jérôme Valcke, had been identified by American officials as a person linked to wire transfers involving bank payments believed to be bribes related to World Cup bids. Mr. Valcke denied any involvement, and FIFA released a statement on Tuesday morning in response to the article that tried to distance Mr. Valcke from the transaction.]
Sepp Blatter, who was re-elected last week for a fifth term as
president of world soccer’s governing body, said Tuesday that he would resign
his position as law enforcement officials confirmed that he was a focus of a
federal corruption investigation.
Mr. Blatter had for days tried to distance himself from the
controversy, but several United States officials, speaking on the condition of
anonymity, said that in their efforts to build a case against Mr. Blatter they
were hoping to win the cooperation of some of the FIFA officials now under
indictment and work their way up the organization.
In a short speech delivered at the headquarters of FIFA, which
oversees global soccer, Mr. Blatter said that “FIFA needs a profound
restructuring” and that he had decided to step away from the organization for
which he had worked in various positions for 40 years. Mr. Blatter, 79, who
spoke in French, then referred to his recent re-election by FIFA’s 209 member
nations when he said, “Although the members of FIFA have given me the new
mandate, this mandate does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world
of football.”
Mr. Blatter’s resignation is not immediate; according to
Domenico Scala, the independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee,
who spoke to the news media after Mr. Blatter, a special meeting of FIFA’s
member nations will be called to elect a new president. According to FIFA’s
rules, there must be at least four months’ notice given to members for such a
meeting, so Mr. Scala indicated that the likely window for a new election is
from December 2015 to March 2016.
Mr. Blatter will continue his duties in the meantime, but will
focus on a program of reform that he said would be driven by Mr. Scala.
“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,” Mr. Blatter said. “We need deep-rooted structural change.”
Mr. Blatter mentioned several components of reform that he found
necessary, including a reshaping of the powerful executive committee. In a
somewhat strange twist, given his lengthy presence as FIFA’s leader, he also
noted the importance of term limits.
Mr. Scala, in his remarks, said “nothing will be off the table”
in terms of reforms for FIFA, whose image has been undeniably marred by the
seemingly constant shadow of controversy. Changes could include a greater focus
on transparency — including publishing the compensation earned by the president
and executive committee members — as well as more stringent and uniform
integrity checks, a proposal which had been previously suggested, and rejected,
by members.
“There is significant work to be done in order to regain the
trust of the public and to fundamentally reform the way in which people see
FIFA,” Mr. Scala said. “These steps will ensure that the organization cannot be
used by those seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the game.”
Pressure on Mr. Blatter mounted in recent days, beginning even
before Friday’s FIFA Congress, at which he was re-elected. Two days before the
election, Swiss police officials — acting on behalf of United States
authorities — arrested several top soccer officials, including two FIFA vice
presidents, at a five-star Zurich hotel, and the United
States Department of Justice handed down a 47-count indictment alleging
widespread corruption within the organization. The Swiss police also revealed
that day that a separate investigation, which is focused on alleged
improprieties involving the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments,
had led investigators to seize documents and records from FIFA’s offices.
Mr. Blatter was not directly implicated in either investigation,
but The New York Times reported late Monday that Mr. Blatter’s top deputy, Jérôme
Valcke, had been identified by American officials as a person linked to wire
transfers involving bank payments believed to be bribes related to World Cup
bids. Mr. Valcke denied any involvement, and FIFA released a statement on
Tuesday morning in response to the article that tried to distance Mr. Valcke
from the transaction.
Early Tuesday evening, however, it was not Mr. Valcke who
stepped to the microphone in the press briefing room. Instead it was Mr.
Blatter, who just days earlier had promised that “I will be in command of this
boat called FIFA and we will bring it back to shore.”
Born in Visp, Switzerland, Mr. Blatter spent time in the
military and worked for the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation and the watch company
Longines before joining FIFA.
His looming departure opens up a job that will be appealing to
many. Mr. Blatter faced only one candidate for re-election on Friday, Prince
Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, after several others dropped out. Michel Platini,
the former star player and the president of the European federation, has often
been an opponent of Mr. Blatter, as well as a possible successor.
