Blatter under investigation

Can he succeed Sepp Batter?

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US officials as part of their inquiry into corruption at the world football body, US media say. The news came hours after Mr Blatter, 79, announced that he was stepping down from his role. US prosecutors launched a criminal inquiry last week, with seven Fifa officials arrested in Switzerland, part of a group of 14 people indicted.

Two days after the arrests, Mr Blatter was re-elected president of Fifa. However, he said on Tuesday that it appeared the mandate he had been given “does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football”.

Mr Blatter said Fifa needed profound restructuring, adding that he would remain in post until an extraordinary congress was called to elect a new president. No dates have been set, but under Fifa rules it is expected to take place between December 2015 and March 2016.

‘Bribes and kickbacks’

US officials quoted in the New York Times said they hoped to gain the co-operation of some of the Fifa figures now under indictment on charges of racketeering and money laundering to try to build a case against Mr Blatter. Separately on Wednesday, Interpol issued a wanted persons alert for two former Fifa officials, Jack Warner and Nicolas Leoz, as well as four corporate executives.

All six were on the list of 14 people indicted by the US authorities last week. Meanwhile, South African’s sports minister has again denied that a $10m bribe was paid to secure the 2010 World Cup, which was one of the charges to come out of the US investigation. Sepp Blatter’s key advisers cut dejected figures last night as their boss announced he was stepping aside.

The air of despondency in Zurich contrasts sharply with that in the rest of Europe. English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke and others who have pushed for reform rejoiced at the news that the man who has controlled Fifa with an iron grip since 1998 was finally going.

The question now turns to who will replace Sepp Blatter. What sort of Fifa will the winner inherit if the promised radical reforms take place? What next for the World Cup hosts Russia and Qatar? Unless the electoral process changes dramatically Asian and African countries will once again be the power brokers.

Given anti-European sentiments amongst many nations in those continents the winner will need to be acceptable to all sides. With Prince Ali of Jordan backed by Uefa, could he now return and claim the Fifa crown he was denied by Sepp Blatter last Friday? Earlier the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who is involved in the US prosecutions, all said they would not comment on the Blatter resignation.

In its prosecution, the US justice department said 14 individuals were under investigation worldwide for allegedly accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period. Two vice-presidents were among the seven Fifa officials arrested in Zurich. They all await US extradition proceedings.

His daughter, Corinne Blatter-Andenmatten, is quoted by Swiss Daily Blick (in German) as saying her father’s decision “has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the allegations going around”. –BBCSports

Who Will Succeed Sepp Blatter?

SEPP Blatter’s announcement that he would hand over the FIFA presidency as soon as a successor could be chosen has opened one of the most important jobs in sports. The person who gets the post will have an immense task: FIFA is a billion-dollar business, but it is reeling from what most see as endemic corruption and faces continuing investigations by United States and Swiss law enforcement officials. Then there is the whole problem of that 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which is beset by charges of bribery and human rights violations.

Prince Ali bin al-Hussein – The Challenger

Prince Ali ran a surprisingly strong campaign in last week’s election, losing to Blatter, 133 to 73, on the first ballot and then conceding. Prince Ali ran on a platform of reform, which was always a risk given FIFA’s longstanding opposition to that. But on Tuesday he told CNN that he would be “at the disposal” of anyone who wanted to bring about change at FIFA, including those who might have been “afraid to do so” before Blatter’s resignation. “We have to salvage FIFA,” he said. His biggest challenge may be his perceived ties to Europe, but also a potential challenger from Asia’s bloc of Persian Gulf states, especially if they fear a move to strip Qatar of the 2022 World Cup. Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain, the head of the Asian confederation and a FIFA vice president, is a powerful force, and if he backs a rival like Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait, who joined the executive committee on Friday, that could affect support for Prince Ali.

Michel Platini – The insider

At times a Blatter ally and at others his most prominent critic, Platini had long declined to run for the presidency. Instead he contented himself as the chief of Europe’s governing body, UEFA, and as a player on FIFA’s executive committee. Now he can run for the top job without challenging Blatter head on, and he will surely be supported by the game’s financial power base in Europe. Platini, a former world player of the year, also has playing chops on his résumé, though it is not clear if his close ties to Blatter will help or hurt. Expect his name to be prominent in any discussions this week, especially as UEFA officials meet before Saturday’s Champions League final.

David Gill – The protestor

A former Manchester United chief executive, Gill nearly had the shortest stay on the executive committee in FIFA history. Gill, who was to take his seat on the executive committee last week, had said he would resign if Blatter did not. Turns out, Blatter blinked first. Could that be the boost Gill needs to make the case that England — and by extension Europe — needs to run the store again? Perhaps. But the bloc of support that kept Blatter in office may unite around someone — anyone — who will not put Europe’s interests above theirs. And an Englishman might be the only one less popular than an American at FIFA right now.

Sunil Gulati – The American

FIFA is more likely to give the top job to Loretta E. Lynch than to Gulati, the head of U.S. Soccer, right now, which is to say that no American will get anywhere near the FIFA presidency in the near future. Anti-Americanism runs high in world sports generally, and perhaps nowhere higher than inside FIFA. Many member countries — not to mention leaders like Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — viewed the Department of Justice investigation as an unwelcome intrusion by American officials into a sovereign body, and they are surely not going to change their view now.

Luís Figo – The Ex-player

The former Portugal star entered the race against Blatter but withdrew last month and threw his support behind Prince Ali. The campaign opened his eyes to the reality of FIFA politics, which shocked him at times, but anyone who played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona ought to be eminently capable of walking a political tightrope.

Lydia Nsekera – Trailblazer

In 2013, Nsekera, 48, became the first woman elected to FIFA’s executive committee. She has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2009, and as a black woman and an African — she was the president of Burundi’s soccer federation from 2004 to 2013 — she represents two interesting constituencies that might be due a turn running the game. Another credible choice, should FIFA decide to look at female candidates, might be Moya Dodd, an Australian lawyer and former player who also has experience on the executive committee. But it is not clear if either has the support, or the infighting skills, to win a FIFA election in the current climate.

The outsiders – Anybody Else

This list includes names already working in soccer. But what FIFA really needs, according to its many critics and even to Blatter on Tuesday, is a complete housecleaning and restructuring. That might take someone with no skin in the game, no loyalties to honor, no debts to repay, no friends to cross. And that would mean someone who has not spent any time in the game. Or a superhero. Finding the former might be easier than identifying the latter. –New York Times