To the surprise of absolutely no one who has ever heard of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, reports emerged on Saturday that he was reconsidering his decision to step down. He’s still wildly popular among Asian and African FA heads -- hence his re-election -- and they’d much rather have him around than whoever is running for his seat.
FIFA cleanup boss reminds Sepp Blatter he still needs to go away
Sepp Blatter will not go quietly into the night.
But Blatter’s popularity is utterly irrelevant, as FIFA audit and compliance committee chairman Domenico Scala reminded everyone a day later. “For me, the reforms are the central topic,” said Scala. “That is why I think it is clearly indispensable to follow through with the initiated process of leadership change as it has been announced.”
During his resignation speech, Blatter said that FIFA needed to undergo massive reform, and that while he believed he could be the man to clean up the organization, he realized that change would be very difficult while he was president. Following his announcement that he would step down, multiple outlets confirmed that Blatter is one of the primary targets in the United States Department of Justice’s investigation into corruption in global soccer.
The special FIFA congress to elect a new president is expected to be held on Dec. 16. Prince Ali bin Hussein, Blatter’s challenger in May’s election, will run again. Brazilian legend Zico has also confirmed his candidacy.
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