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Sepp Blatter
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FIFA President Sepp Blatter
kept out of sight for the second successive day on Thursday when he failed to
show up at a medical conference the day after world soccer's governing body was
plunged into another corruption scandal.
The
embattled 79-year-old Swiss national, who rarely misses a FIFA-related event
and usually stops to speak to the media, was also conspicuous by his absence on
Wednesday when he failed to attend a meeting of African delegates, assembled in
Zurich ahead of Friday's Congress.
FIFA's
chief medical officer, Michel D'Hooghe of Belgium, told the medical officers:
"President Blatter apologizes for not being able to come today because of
the turbulences you have heard about."
Reuters reports:
Those
turbulences involved a dawn raid by plainclothes police officers at one of
Zurich's most luxurious hotels on Wednesday leaving seven of the most powerful
figures in global football in custody overnight and facing extradition to the
United States on corruption charges after their arrest.
The
Swiss authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of
the next two World Cups being hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
U.S.
authorities said nine football officials and five sports media and promotions
executives faced corruption charges involving more than US$150 million in
bribes.
Those
actions have sparked the gravest crisis in FIFA's 111-year history with
confederations now seemingly in open warfare with one another, just a day
before Blatter is expected to be re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term
on Friday.
UEFA,
the European confederation, issued a statement on Wednesday calling for the
Congress, and the election of a new president to be postponed amid suggestions
it might boycott the event, but the AFC, the Asian confederation, countered by
continuing to support Blatter and saying the election should go ahead.
The
crisis has also shown up deep divisions in the French football federation.
Michel
Platini, the French president of UEFA and a firm opponent of Blatter, is backing
Blatter's presidential opponent Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan if Friday's
election goes ahead.
However the president of
the French FA, Noel Le Graet, said he was backing Blatter as "he did not
know Prince Ali".
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