Employment Lawyer Comments On Controversial Figure
Sepp Blatter has announced that he is to resign as president of football's governing body Fifa as the organisation continues to deal with a multi-million pound investigation for corruption.
The high profile and controversial 79-year-old has today called for an extraordinary Fifa congress to elect a new president.
The surprise announcement follows news last week that seven of Fifa’s official had been arrested as part of a US investigation into bribery and corruption.
Blatter, who was re-elected as president only last week, said in his resignation speech: "My mandate does not appear to be supported by everybody."
He added: "I will urge the executive committee to organise an extraordinary congress for the election of my successor at the earliest opportunity.
"This will need to be done in line with Fifa's statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign."
FA chairman Greg Dyke said the resignation was "great news for football.”
He added that: “I think it is long overdue but it is good news for world football.
"It now means that we can get someone in to run Fifa, we can get in there and find out where all the money has gone over all these years and sort it out for the future."
Expert Opinion
"Football often operates in a cocoon when it comes to dealing with senior employees but if Mr Blatter is standing down on the basis that he is the head of the organisation and therefore accepts that he is accountable for the actions of all its employees, then it is a sign of the world of football acting in a similar way to the world of commerce. In business, scandals place public pressure on individuals to accept accountability and there has certainly been a public outcry for it here in this country." Glenn Hayes - Partner & National Head of Employment Law