After Partner ISMM Fails, FIFA President Getting The Heat

The future of FIFA President Sepp Blatter "was in doubt" after European soccer governing body UEFA demanded that Blatter "explain his relationship with ISMM," the Swiss sports marketing company that went bankrupt last week, according to Matthew Garrahan of FT.com. UEFA expressed "grave concern about the lack of transparency and clarity" surrounding the relationship between FIFA and ISMM. Through its ISL subsidiary, ISMM owned the media and marketing rights for the '02 and '06 World Cups. UEFA President Lennart Johansson said that Blatter would either have to "resign or face a vote of no-confidence" if he failed to respond to UEFA's request for more information about the relationship. Johansson added if Blatter does not respond to the request, it would be "the end of the story." Blatter was "understood to have been confident" ISMM would survive, after Vivendi-Universal "stepped in with a rescue package" which Vivendi eventually withdrew (FT.com, 5/24). UEFA CEO Gerhard Aigner: "As a result of the ISL collapse, we have not received (US$12.67M) owed to us as part of a profit-sharing deal after last year's European Championships. ... [UEFA] hoped that someone would come in and take over the company. That is now unlikely to happen and we have to decide whether to go to court or not to protect our interests. That money was ours and we believe now it was used for other purposes" (REUTERS, 5/24).