Sepp Blatter must go.
So says British Prime Minister David Cameron on the eve of the FIFA World Congress vote that could put the embattled leader of soccer’s scandal-ridden governing body into power for a fifth term.
Cameron, much as expected, will be putting his support behind Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, the candidate put forth by England’s Football Association.
“I fully support the Football Association’s position that significant and wide-ranging reforms are urgently needed at the very top of FIFA, including a change in its leadership,” he said, according to a statement.
He further said he was also behind the two criminal investigations into FIFA’s activities and said, “The responsibility with regard to football administration is for football administrators. The FA — we are squarely behind the FA — supports the candidacy of Prince Ali.”
Cameron spoke ahead of a meeting that is expected to be like no other — embroiled in an unprecedented crisis that has led to the arrest of some its leading officials on corruption charges, FIFA will open its 65th Congress on Thursday in Zurich.
Before the congress’ opening, Blatter held an emergency meeting with representatives of its six confederations.
Already, there have have been calls for the FIFA presidential ballot to be postponed.
European governing body UEFA, whose chief Michel Platini has been among Blatter’s fiercest critics, is also meeting earlier Thursday in the Swiss city to decide how best to navigate the growing scandal.
UEFA said Wednesday its member associations should consider whether to attend the upcoming FIFA World Congress, which it said should be postponed. UEFA further called for “new FIFA presidential elections to be organized within the next six months.”
Blatter is expected to speak at the opening of the congress, a FIFA representative said.
Nine FIFA officials, as well as five sports media and marketing executives, were charged by U.S. prosecutors Wednesday over alleged kickbacks of more than $150 million dating back over 20 years.
As a result of the U.S. investigation, seven arrests were made in a dawn raid of a Zurich hotel where the officials had gathered for the annual congress.
In a separate development, Swiss authorities announced an investigation into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
Blatter has not been named as a suspect in either investigation, but doubts about his leadership of world soccer have again resurfaced, not least because key FIFA sponsors Visa and Coca-Cola have put out statements expressing their concerns about its handling of persistent allegations of corruption.
