The head of world soccer’s crisis-wracked governing body faced open dissent Thursday — including calls to resign — a day before a vote on whether to keep him at the helm amid devastating charges that the sport’s leadership is riddled with corruption.
“I know many people hold me ultimately responsible,” said FIFA President Sepp Blatter in his first public comments on the growing scandal. But he said he “cannot monitor everyone all of the time.” He attributed corruption in FIFA to “a tiny minority” and vowed to cooperate with authorities “to make sure anyone involved in wrongdoing, from top to bottom, is discovered and punished.”
He also added a gloomy prediction: “I’m sure more bad news will follow.”
While conceding that the scandal has cast a pall of “shame and humiliation” over soccer, Blatter refused to step down Thursday and was widely expected to extend his 17-year stewardship of the world’s most popular sport in balloting planned for Friday in Zurich. But the internal discord reflects the wider unease and uncertainty generated by far-reaching corruption allegations from U.S. and Swiss prosecutors — as well as suggestions that the probes may not be over.
The rifts within FIFA also bring sharp focus on pressures to undertake swift reforms or risk an image problem that could threaten the hugely lucrative corporate sponsorships on display in every stadium and nearly every jersey in the world’s top leagues.
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As the turmoil played out around the world, Blatter kept a low profile at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich — holding emergency talks with the sport’s high-ranking executives and canceling public appearances until delivering a speech Thursday to open a two-day FIFA conclave in Switzerland’s largest city.
The rare no-shows from the normally spotlight-seeking Blatter underscored how deeply the charges rattled the globally beloved sport and its 79-year-old president.
“Actions of individuals bring shame and humiliation on football and demand action and change from us all,” Blatter said in his first public appearance since the indictments were revealed. “We cannot allow the reputation of football and FIFA to be dragged through the mud any longer. It has to stop here and now.”
But he also sought to distance himself from the messy fallout.
Although many hold him responsible, “we, or I, cannot monitor everyone all of the time,” Blatter said in his opening speech at the 65th FIFA Congress on Thursday. “If people want to do wrong, they will also try to hide it.” He pledged, “I will not allow the actions of a few to destroy the hard work and integrity of the vast majority of those who work so hard for football.”
Saying that “these are unprecedented and difficult times for FIFA,” Blatter stressed that the organization now faces “a long and difficult road to rebuilding trust.” He added: “We have lost their trust, at least a part of it, and we must now earn it back. We must earn it back through the decisions we make, through the expectations we place on each other and through the way we behave individually.”
Blatter — who wields huge influence as global soccer’s overseer — has not been implicated in the twin probes announced Wednesday. But U.S. officials said more indictments could come as investigators dig deeper into “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” corruption at FIFA, the French abbreviation for Federation Internationale de Football Association.
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Blatter had been holed up since a series of stunning arrests, which included FIFA executives being led from a Zurich hotel where members had gathered for meetings and Friday’s planned vote on whether to retain him.
Swiss-born Blatter was expected to breeze into a fifth term against a single long-shot opponent. But hesitation has appeared to grow in the wake of the investigations.
In the boldest show of defiance, Michel Platini, the president of the powerful European soccer federation, known as UEFA, called for Blatter to step down. The FIFA chief quickly rejected Platini’s demand.
In a private meeting with Blatter on Thursday, Platini, a former star of the French national soccer team, said he urged the FIFA president to resign but that Blatter refused.
“I am asking you to leave FIFA, to step down because you are giving FIFA a terrible image,” Platini said he told Blatter, the Associated Press reported. “Enough is enough,” the UEFA chief told reporters after the meeting. “People no longer want him anymore, and I don’t want him anymore either.”
Earlier, UEFA had considered boycotting the ballot. But Platini told reporters in Zurich that its members will not snub the vote, and most European delegates will back Blatter’s rival, FIFA’s vice president, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.
British Prime Minister David Cameron weighed in on behalf of the prince’s candidacy and called for a change in FIFA’s leadership. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius suggested delaying the vote in view of the corruption probe.
Blatter, however, appeared to hold onto comfortable support outside Europe, including from Asia and Africa.
“The upcoming FIFA congress risks to turn into a farce and therefore the European associations will have to consider carefully if they should even attend this Congress and caution a system, which, if it is not stopped, will ultimately kill football,” UEFA said in a statement after a crisis meeting late Wednesday.
Even soccer powerhouse Brazil has called for the vote to be postponed.
Outside FIFA headquarters, a small group of protesters gathered under banners including one with the message: “Game over for Blatter.”
“Victory for a beautiful game. Blatter, Blatter have some shame,” some chanted.
Blatter’s counterpunch — led by his call to clean house — was as much a message to the sport’s governors as it was to corporate sponsors, which provide critical financial support.
One major corporate ally, Visa Inc., warned it could end its relationship with FIFA unless swift steps are taken to address the allegations.
“This starts with rebuilding a culture with strong ethical practices,” said a statement from Foster City, Calif.-based Visa. “Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship.”
Other major FIFA sponsors, including Coca-Cola Co. and German sportswear giant Adidas, have also expressed concern over the charges, but have held back from any direct warnings about cutting ties.
In Switzerland, meanwhile, prosecutors started questioning some of the seven people arrested Wednesday in Zurich. It was unclear whether the suspects would seek to block possible extradition to the United States — a process that can be complicated in Europe because of resistance to such extraditions from lawmakers and others.
The 47-count U.S. indictment names 14 influential figures in world soccer on racketeering and bribery charges totaling more than $150 million dating back to the 1990s. U.S. officials said some of the alleged deal-making was conducted in the United States and has other American links, including transfers via U.S. banks.
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“The beautiful game was hijacked,” FBI director James Comey said. “The defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world. Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA.”
In vivid detail, the indictments described officials at the very top of the game engaging in more than two decades of relentless corruption, including an alleged $10 million bribe to award the 2010 World Cup to South Africa with that government’s cooperation and a FIFA official passing out envelopes stuffed with $40,000 in cash to buy votes in the 2011 FIFA presidential election.
It also outlined bribes for lucrative media and marketing rights for World Cup qualifiers and other events. According to Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, one FIFA official alone received $10 million in bribes.
U.S. officials said they are working in close cooperation with the office of the Swiss attorney general, which announced its own related though separate criminal investigation into suspicion of money laundering, criminal mismanagement and “unjust enrichment” around FIFA’s controversial awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Swiss authorities seized electronic data and documents from FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
In Qatar, the probe sent the Persian Gulf country’s stock market plunging nearly 3 percent on Thursday.
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Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin added to outrage from Moscow, accusing the United States of meddling in FIFA affairs and seeking to “derail” Blatter — who supported Russia’s World Cup bid.
According to U.S. law enforcement, among those in custody were FIFA vice president and executive committee member Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands, FIFA vice president and executive committee member Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay, FIFA executive committee member-elect Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, and officials of the Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Brazilian football organizations. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of racketeering.
Sally Jenkins in Washington and Steven Goff in New York contributed to this report.
