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
Sepp Blatter has announced that he is stepping down as FIFA president.
The Swiss announced his decision at a press conference in Zurich, which was quickly arranged on Tuesday evening. Blatter also called for an extraordinary Congress “as rapidly as possible”, where his successor will be chosen.
“We need a limitation on mandates and terms of office, not only for the President but for all members of the Executive Committee,” he said.
“The congress voted me, but a lot associated with the game thinks otherwise.”
This development comes just four days after the 79-year-old was re-elected to a fifth term and six days after the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials.
Earlier today, his Secretary-General, Jerome Valcke, was implicated in the ongoing US Department of Justice’s investigations, into a $10million payment to former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.
The next FIFA Presidential election is expected to take place between December 2015 and March 2016, before the May 2016 General Congress.
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