European Parliament calls for Blatter’s immediate resignation
Memebers of the European Parliament have voted in favour of a resolution calling for the immediate resignation of Sepp Blatter. Photo: European Parliament/Flickr
12.06.2015
By Stine AlvadIn a ‘Joint Motion for a Resolution’, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) yesterday voted in favour of a resolution calling for FIFA president Sepp Blatter to step down with immediate effect instead of waiting for a new president to be elected as was announced when Blatter broke the news about his intention to step down as FIFA president.
While the MEPs welcome this decision, there is concern that real change cannot take place within the football body before a new leadership has been appointed, it says in the resolution, in which the MEPs also condemn ‘the systemic and endemic corruption exposed in FIFA’.
According to the resolution, the allegations of corruption are ‘far from surprising’, which is why there is a need for a follow-up investigation into past corruption practices in FIFA.
Such an investigation could include ‘the removal of all officials involved in financial misconduct’, the resolution says. But in order to restore the credibility of FIFA, a new leadership should be appointed, the MEPs stress and the resolution “therefore calls on FIFA to select, in a transparent and inclusive way, an appropriate interim leader to replace Joseph Blatter forthwith.”
The MEPs call on both sports governing bodies as well as sponsors and other stakeholders to commit to and support reform processes. They further encourage UEFA and other FAs “to step up their own efforts to push for the implementation of fundamental reform measures within FIFA […] by the end of 2016.”
The fight against corruption in FIFA, should also be accompanied by a commitment by FIFA as well as other stakeholders to initiate measures against e.g. match-fixing and other crimes affecting sports organisations, the motion states.
Commending the investigative journalists whose work set the alarm bells ringing regarding corruption in FIFA, the MEPs urge sports organisations to create a set-up that makes blowing the whistle on malpractices in sports governance both easier and safer.
The motion for resolution was passed by a show of hands during a plenary sitting in the European Parliament on 11 June. The resolution will now be forwarded to the European Council and the European Commission, EU member state governments as well to FIFA, UEFA, European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), European Club Association (ECA) and FIFPro.
The resolution is not legally binding.
More information
- See the full text of the joint motion for a resolution: 'Recent revelations of high-level corruption cases in FIFA’ (provisional edition)
- See the European Parliament's press release about the resolution
The media obviously have difficulty understanding Sepp Blatters "resignation", and so has “Play The Game”, so allow me to speculate:
It may very well be that what has happened prior to, during, and after the FIFA congress was carefully planned by Blatter, and anyway Blatter did not dare to resign before the election, because that would mean that somebody else would sit in his chair, and Blatter would then be powerless. So he went through the voting procedure, as expected with flying colours, and away went his opponent and with him the immediate treath of someone going over FIFA´s files and archives.
Four days later he announces his retirement as president, giving the poorest of reasons, where at any other time he would have thrived on the many votes he got, and never would have "betrayed" those who voted for him.
He did this without setting any specific date for his actual retirement, by only mentioning an extraordinary congress - also without any date or time limit - and only afterwards it has been leaked that it may be up to one year ahead. Only Blatter calls the shots.
This means that for the time being nothing has changed when it comes to Blatters grip on FIFA.
Unless he is brought down by the ongoing criminal investigations, and the expectedly long drawn legal proceedings, he can spend the next year covering up his tracks and burning evidence.
All the while he is still president of FIFA with full powers, and should things be going his way, he may even change his decision to retire.
The only thing that can be done, and should be done, is therefore for the required number of FIFA members, to demand an electoral congress as soon as possible, to elect a new president, and it would be very much preferred that it can be done before Blatter is being indicted or imprisoned, because otherwise he could (and would) claim that nothing has been settled as long as he has not been finally convicted, thereby stalling everything.
Actually, in his present self elected position he may have an even stronger hold on FIFA than before.
5th June 2015
Georg Facius