SOCCER-FIFA/GERMANY REAX Germany reacts to news of Sepp Blatter's resignation as FIFA President

Record ID: 149829

  • Title: SOCCER-FIFA/GERMANY REAX Germany reacts to news of Sepp Blatter's resignation as FIFA President
  • Date: 2nd June 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 2, 2015) (REUTERS) STREET IN BERLIN PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (German) RESIDENT, ECKHART WENDT, SAYING: "I think it is a positive thing because I think there was definitely corruption happening. I don't know if he was personally involved. I wouldn't claim it necessarily but there was a lot of pressure on him." (SOUNDBITE) (German) RESIDENT, TURAN TOUL, SAYIN
  • Embargoed: 17th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7LUBE5WWTZ5O32B41S7I3YZJU
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: News of the resignation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter hit the headlines in Germany on Tuesday (June 2) evening, after Blatter made the announcement just days after his re-election.
    Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president in the face of a U.S.-led corruption investigation that has plunged world soccer's governing body into the worst crisis in its history.
    Blatter, 79, announced the decision at a news conference in Zurich, six days after the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials and just four days after he was re-elected for a fifth term as president.
    Blatter said an election to choose a new FIFA president would be held as soon as possible.
    The story was top of the news bulletins in Germany, as people the street reacted with shock but also approval.
    "I think it is a positive thing because I think there was definitely corruption happening. I don't know if he was personally involved. I wouldn't claim it necessarily but there was a lot of pressure on him," said one man, Eckhart Wendt in the German capital Berlin.
    "I am really happy. Perhaps FIFA now can be reformed now that he is gone, and there can maybe be more transparency. Maybe the corruption scandal can be completely solved," said another man, Tim Kramer, who added, "With Blatter there was rarely good experiences and now I hope that his successor, whoever that will be, will do it better than him."
    But one woman in Berlin said perhaps people had been too quick to judge.
    "Perhaps there is a type of cleansing process in our society but we are also a bit merciless. Instead of being strict with ourselves we put the pressure on him," Irena Schlingensiepel told Reuters TV.
    FIFA, ruled over by Blatter since 1998, was rocked this week by the announcement of a U.S. investigation into alleged widespread financial wrongdoing stretching back for years.
    Swiss authorities mounted their own criminal probe into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
    The U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    Blatter initially attempted to bat away the furore, relying on his network of friends to hold onto power at FIFA, which he joined in 1975.
    While Blatter was not mentioned in either the U.S. or Swiss investigations, there were widespread calls for him to quit, mostly from Western nations.
    Some major sponsors also expressed misgivings about the impact of the scandal.
    The investigation however closed in on Blatter on Tuesday, when FIFA was forced to deny that his right-hand man, Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, was implicated in a $10 million payment that lies at the heart of the U.S. case.
    But at the same time, a letter addressed to Valcke was published outlining the transaction.
    Valcke, who has been secretary-general since 2007 and is seen as one of the most powerful men in world sport, had no role in the payments, which were authorised by the chairman of FIFA's Finance Committee, FIFA said in an earlier statement.
    The chairman of the committee at the time of the payments was Argentina's Julio Grondona, who died last year.
    A person familiar with the matter said on Monday (June 1) that U.S. prosecutors believe Valcke made the $10 million bank transactions which are central to a U.S. bribery investigation against FIFA.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register