Sepp Blatter has announced his resignation as FIFA president.
The Swiss was appointed as top boss of football’s world governing body for Fifa term in succession last week, but has revealed that he will step down following the latest corruption scandal.
Blatter has also called for an emergency FIFA congress to be held as soon as possible, where a replacement will be named.
“I will not stand… I am now free of the constraints of the election. Reforms need to continue. We need a limit on mandates,” Blatter said in a statement.
“FIFA’s interests are very dear to me and this is why I’ve taken this decision. I’d like to thank everyone that has supported me and I repeat: what counts most to me is the institution of FIFA and football around the world. Thank you every much for your kind attention.”
Chairman of FIFA audit and compliance committee Domencio Scala followed Blatter in the hastily-called press conference and gave details of the process for appointing a replacement.
“As the president has stated, these reforms will include fundamental changes to the way the organisation is structured. While the timing will ultimately be up to the executive committee, the timing of election is likely to be between December and March.”
Blatter was surprisingly re-elected last week, despite the arrests of top FIFA officials on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering as part of a US prosecution. Meanwhile, an investigation into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were allocated is also underway.
UEFA president Michel Platini and Football Association chairman Greg Dyke both called for Blatter to be removed from his role following the scandal.
