ZURICH, Switzerland, June 14 (UPI) — An unnamed source reportedly close to Sepp Blatter told Swiss paper Schweiz am Sonntag that the FIFA president is rethinking his decision to step down.
Blatter, the longtime FIFA administrator, has served as the federation’s eighth president since 1998. He was recently reelected amid an ongoing corruption scandal. But facing immense pressures from heads of football around the world (but especially in Europe) Blatter agreed to step down.
“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,” Blatter said in a press conference on June 2.
New reports suggest, however, Blatter may have a bit more defiance left in him. The leaders of the African and Asian soccer associations have appealed for Blatter to reconsider. And Blatter is reportedly doing as they wish.
“Everything is open,” the source told BBC Sport.
It wouldn’t be the first time Blatter went back on his word. In 2011, he promised he would end his reign as FIFA head in 2015.
FIFA hasn’t yet commented on the recent news, but Domenico Scala, chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, has. He says the president must follow through with his pledge to exact reforms and recuse himself with the federation’s leadership.
Scala was recently put in charge of overseeing another election, one in which Blatter will not be a candidate. The reelection process is expected to produce a new president by December.
“Scala is right to speak out against this,” Damian Collins, a member of British parliament and founder of the reform group New FIFA Now, told the Telegraph. “FIFA needs to understand that unless Blatter goes and there is real reform that it could be the end of the organization.”
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