‘Blatter will not see out term of office’

Dark clouds over FIFA's Zurich headquarters on Saturday Keystone

FIFA president Sepp Blatter will be forced to resign over the corruption scandals swirling around the game’s world governing body, according to English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke. 

Blatter was handed another four years in charge on Friday when his challenger, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, withdrew after losing the first round of voting at the FIFA Congress in Zurich. 

Dyke said he did not think an emergency meeting would be called by FIFA following the latest allegations to hit the troubled organisation, but he added: “I think what is more likely is there will be further scandals. I think [Blatter] will be then forced to resign.” 

“If he had been head of any company, any organisation where there was proper scrutiny, he would have gone.” 

On Wednesday, Swiss police arrested seven leading football officials, including FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb. 

The arrests were connected to a bribery scandal being investigated by US, Swiss and other law enforcement agencies that plunged FIFA into the worst crisis in its 111-year history. 

World Cup doubts 

Speaking at Wembley Stadium before Saturday’s FA Cup final, Dyke said it was no longer a foregone conclusion that Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup now that Swiss authorities had begun investigations into alleged corruption over how the country secured the right to stage the finals. 

“Look at what the Swiss authorities are doing. These are the Swiss authorities, not some small prosecuting authority from a small country – this is the Swiss – they are looking at what level of corruption there was into the awarding of that World Cup. If they come out and say it was corrupt, I don’t think we will see a Qatar World Cup.” 

Qatar has always denied any wrongdoing in its bid to stage the biggest single-event sporting competition in the world. 

Dyke also said Blatter was being “paranoid” if he thought European football’s governing body UEFA was waging a hate campaign against him. 

Blatter, who has been re-elected for a fifth term, averted a civil war with UEFA earlier on Saturday when he said Europe would keep their 13 slots at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. 

UEFA campaigned for Prince Ali, 39, in Friday’s election but the 79-year-old Blatter retained power after a closer than expected winning margin of 133-73 votes in the first round.  

Clear jibe 

The Swiss said he would “forgive but not forget” those who voted against him, a clear jibe at UEFA, whose president Michel Platini told Blatter he should resign the day before the vote. 

Asked if UEFA was actively waging what Blatter described as a “hate” campaign against him, Dyke said: “I think he is being a bit paranoid, but he ought to be because I am not sure he will be there that long.” 

“A third of the delegates voted against him which, given the amount of patronage he carries, is a remarkable number and the people who have voted against him are by and large the big nations, mostly in Europe and we’re told the whole of Latin America. These are the two big footballing continents – they don’t want him anymore, we don’t want him anymore and there is nothing he can do to us.” 

Dyke also said he did not believe Blatter’s claims that he would now clean up FIFA, after countless scandals during his 17 years as president. 

“I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening. He hasn’t cleaned it up in all the time he has been there, why would he clean it up now? There’s been scandal after scandal. There’s not a chance he will clean it up. And I think the reason he got in is because a lot of people know he will not clean it up.”