Geneva: Sepp Blatter may seek to stay on as the president of Fifa, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday, less than two weeks after Blatter said he would step down over a major corruption scandal at the organisation. However, Domenico Scala, the official overseeing the process of choosing a new president, said that Blatter’s departure was an “indispensable” part of planned reforms to football’s governing body.
According to the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper, Blatter had received messages of support from African and Asian football associations, asking him to rethink his decision to step down. Blatter was honoured by the support and had not ruled out remaining in office, the newspaper said, citing an anonymous source. But Scala, head of Fifa’s audit and compliance committee, said that Blatter needed to stick to his word.
“For me, the reforms are the central topic,” he said.“That is why I think it is clearly indispensable to follow through with the initiated process of president’s change as has been announced.” Blatter has changed his mind in the past. When he began his fourth mandate in 2011, he said it would be his last, but he later backed down, stood again and was re-elected in May.
