Re-elected FIFA President Sepp Blatter gestures during news conference after an extraordinary Executive Committee meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, May 30, 2015. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, has once again protested his innocence, amid the corruption scandal rocking the world football governing body.
The 79-year-old has now said anybody who calls him corrupt and cannot prove it “should go to jail”.
Blatter announced on June 2, that he would step down from his position as FIFA president, following a crisis that saw 14 people indicted in the US on football-related corruption charges.
Just last week, the Swiss appeared to be reconsidering his position, after he said: “I have not resigned, I put my mandate in the hands of an extraordinary congress.”
Domenico Scala, who is expected to oversee the next FIFA presidential election, has warned him to stop “flirting with power”.
But speaking in an interview with German magazine, Bunte, Blatter said: “I have a clean conscience. If somebody accuses me of being corrupt, I ask him whether he knows the meaning of that word. Whoever calls me corrupt will have to prove it, but nobody can prove that because I am not corrupt.
“I am open to correct or positive criticism. I can use that to reconsider if I need to change in the future. But if anybody calls me corrupt because FIFA is corrupt, I can only shake my head. Everybody who says something like that should go to jail.
“My faith has given me strength during the last week. I am a religious person and pray, too. I own a golden cross that has been blessed by Pope Francis. I believe I will go to heaven one day. But I believe there is no hell. I disagree with the pope on that.”
Comments