Zurich: In one tumultuous week, world soccer’s governing body was plunged into a corruption scandal, top officials were arrested, new investigations were launched, and Sepp Blatter was re-elected as president, only to stun everyone by saying he was quitting. On Wednesday, Blatter’s staff gave him a standing ovation.
As ripples of the scandal reverberated from Europe to Africa to the Middle East, the embattled president showed up for work at FIFA’s gleaming headquarters in Zurich, where FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer said he met with staff and received their applause.
On May 27, Swiss police raided a luxury Zurich hotel on the eve of FIFA’s annual conference and arrested seven soccer officials. They were among 14 current and former sports and marketing officials indicted by US authorities on bribery, vote-rigging and other corruption charges. The 79-year-old Blatter has not been officially implicated so far in either investigation, and he won re-election to a fifth, four-year term Friday during the FIFAcongress.
Here are some of the developments in the case:
Russia and qatar
Russia and Qatar are the next two World Cup hosts, but those tournaments are coming under ever more scrutiny amid the corruption probes. Still, neither country seems worried that they could be stripped of the 2018 and 2022 events. “We welcome the Office of the Swiss attorney general conducting its own work,” Qatar Football Association head Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani said.
Judge unsure how to pronounce fifa
New York: FIFA (FEE’-fuh) may be famous throughout the world. In the Brooklyn court room of US District Judge Raymond J. Dearie, not so much. During the November plea hearing of former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer, Dearie told the defendant: “There are 10 charges, if I am not mistaken, 10 charges in total.”
Blazer, the former No. 2 of soccer’s governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean, responded: “That is correct,” according to a transcript unsealed. “I don’t know how you pronounce it,” the judge said. “FIFA, your honor,” said Evan M. Norris, and assistant US attorney.
Sepp starts meetings on FIFA reforms
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has issued his first public statement since announcing his resignation on Tuesday, saying he has already started the process of reforming soccer’s governing body. Blatter said Tuesday he would step down amid a corruption crisis that has shakenFIFA and soccer officials around the world. FIFA says Blatter met with audit and compliance chairman Domenico Scala on Thursday to “instigate meaningful reform of the administration and structure ofFIFA.”