Blatter resignation comes as no surprise, analysts say

AMMAN — Although the timing of Sepp Blatter’s resignation as FIFA president was shocking for many football fans, analysts said Wednesday that the step was expected sooner or later. 

Blatter unexpectedly announced that he was quitting as FIFA chief on Tuesday, just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term of office. 

Football analysts interviewed by The Jordan Times said the corruption cases that rocked FIFA recently and HRH Prince Ali’s vision for the benefit of the game were the main factors that led Blatter to step down from the helm of FIFA.

Taiseer Omeiri, head of the sports department at Al Ghad daily, said one of the main factors that forced Blatter to take this decision was the fierce conflict with Europe represented by UEFA. 

“For the first time in football’s history, Europe threatened to boycott FIFA elections or later FIFA competitions. This showed Blatter how serious Europeans are and made him think twice,” Omeiri said in a phone interview.

Amjad Majali, who heads the sports department at Al Rai Arabic daily, said the resignation was expected. 

“Anyone who is following the corruption allegations against FIFA and the launch of investigations against FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, one of his most important assistants, realises that Blatter was forced to quit because it is really difficult for him to handle all this pressure,” he noted. 

The football analyst said Blatter’s resignation is “beneficial for football”.

“If we go back to the campaign of Prince Ali, he said the last chance to save the game is to have Blatter resign. Most of the corruption cases happened under Blatter’s watch even though he may not have been involved,” Majali added. 

Issa Turk, the head coach of Al Jazeera club, said the future of the game will be bright following the resignation of the 79-year-old Swiss, who has been FIFA president since 1998.  

He said the international football community owes Prince Ali, his vision and transparent campaign for the latest developments, and the campaign to “clean FIFA from corruption” has begun. 

“I think there will be great pressure on Prince Ali from the international football community to run again because he is the person who vocally pushed for change,” he added, noting that the prince is “saddened” by the damage caused to the image of football. 

Blatter has called for holding an extraordinary FIFA congress to hold elections soon for his replacement. Polls are expected to be held anytime between December 2015 and March 2016, according to international news reports.

Jordan Football Association (JFA) Vice President Salah Sabra said Prince Ali will “definitely” run for the upcoming FIFA elections. 

“The JFA is looking into legal details regarding the resignation of the FIFA president and whether the prince, as his challenger in the recent elections, can take over,” Sabra added. 

Omeiri said 75 per cent of European federations backed Prince Ali in Friday’s vote, and there is a good chance for him to have similar support from UEFA if no important candidate from Europe decides to run. 

Prince Ali received 73 votes, while Blatter received 133.

“Asia also has to support Prince Ali to ensure that he wins,” he added.  

Turk called on the prince to run again for the presidency. 

“A change has to be made at FIFA... Prince Ali’s vision is really transparent and promising and will lead the game into a bright future.”