FIFA 2015 Congress Opens In Zurich Under Heavy Cloud Of Scandal

Blatter addresses the opening ceremony of the FIFA congress in Zurich (Image source: Daily Mail UK)

FIFA president Sepp Blatter this evening declared the FIFA Congress open in Zurich, GRAPHITTI NEWS reports.

The congress is happening a day after a dawn raid by Swiss Police and the arrest of seven FIFA senior officials including two FIFA vice-presidents.

The report continues:
Dawn raids by Swiss federal authorities on FIFA headquarters and a luxury hotel in Zurich supported separate federal cases in the United States and Switzerland.

The U.S. probe relates to racketeering, money laundering and kickbacks in marketing deals for soccer tournaments in the U.S., Brazil and across Latin America.

Two of FIFA's eight vice presidents and a new member of its executive committee were among officials arrested in Zurich.

The Swiss investigation is about wrongdoing in the controversial 2018-2022 World Cup bidding contests which gave hosting rights to Russia and Qatar.

Meanwhile Daily Mail UK reports Sepp Blatter has admitted 'more bad news will follow' for FIFA as he claimed the £100m corruption scandal is not his fault because he 'can't monitor everyone all the time.'

After refusing a request from UEFA president Michel Platini to stand down, Blatter told the FIFA congress in Zurich that 'if people want to do wrong, they will also try to hide it.' 

The French chief of UEFA met Blatter one-on-one on Thursday and asked him to quit but he refused, saying it would not be possible before Friday's presidential election.

Platini confirmed that all his member nations in Europe have been asked to vote for Blatter's opponent, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, after two separate criminal probes were launched into FIFA.

And Platini has not ruled out the possibility of a World Cup boycott if Blatter is re-elected, saying 'we will be open to all options.'