FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been "urged to stick by his decision" to quit as president, according to the BBC. Blatter announced on June 2 that he would step down at an extraordinary congress between December and March. However, on Thursday the 79-year-old said that "he had not resigned and was thought to be considering re-election." FIFA Audit & Compliance Committee Independent Chair Domenico Scala said, "The times of flirting with the power are definitely gone. I call on all concerned -- including Mr. Blatter -- to endorse in the interest of the reforms unequivocally the announced changing of the guard at the top of FIFA." Two criminal investigations into alleged FIFA corruption began in the week that Blatter was elected for a fifth term, with seven FIFA officials arrested on "charges of receiving bribes" (BBC, 6/28). The AP reported Blatter said that his decision to leave FIFA was "liberating" and he expects the election to replace him will be in early '16. Blatter explained why he announced his exit from FIFA "amid American and Swiss investigations of corruption in world football." He said, "It was the only way to take away the pressure from FIFA and my employees, including [pressure] from the sponsors. To remove FIFA and me personally from the line of fire." In his "most frank comments" since his declaration on June 2, he reflected on the "approaching end of his four decades" at FIFA and what lies ahead. He said, "I am not yet having many thoughts about this, and am not worrying. The decision to go is definitely liberating. For FIFA and for myself" (AP, 6/27).
BAIL REQUEST DENIED: REUTERS' Michael Shields reported one of seven football officials arrested in Zurich last month on "suspicion of racketeering" following a U.S. extradition request has had a request for bail rejected, with a Swiss court saying on Friday that he posed a "risk of flight." The officials were detained in a "dawn raid on May 27" in a luxury Zurich hotel two days before FIFA's annual Congress, throwing FIFA "into turmoil." They have "since been held in prisons around the Zurich region." The Swiss Federal Criminal Court statement described the defendant as a "FIFA official" without naming him. The seven detained are Jeffrey Webb, Eduardo Li, Júlio Rocha, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin and Costas Takkas. Swiss "media widely identified the defendant who had appealed" as 83-year-old Figueredo, a former president of the Uruguayan FA and CONMEBOL. FIFA was not "immediately available" for comment (REUTERS, 6/26).
