SOCCER-FIFA/BRAZIL REACTION Brazilians say soccer stands to benefit after Blatter quits as FIFA chief after corruption scandal

Record ID: 149878

  • Title: SOCCER-FIFA/BRAZIL REACTION Brazilians say soccer stands to benefit after Blatter quits as FIFA chief after corruption scandal
  • Date: 2nd June 2015
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (JUNE 02, 2015) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** VARIOUS OF STREETS IN DOWNTOWN RIO MAN MAKING PURCHASE FROM CORNER STORE CLERK, ALEXANDRE FERREIRA DA SILVA (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) CORNER STORE CLERK, ALEXANDRE FERREIRA DA SILVA, SAYING: "Everyone is seeing that there is a really big corruption scandal at FIFA and this (Blatter
  • Embargoed: 17th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2FDMM7OVCB711OB1TAHBJB83L
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Soccer fans in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday (May 2) said they were not surprised to hear FIFA President Sepp Blatter had resigned from his position adding they hoped it would be good for soccer overall.
    Blatter stunned the world of soccer when he announced his resignation as FIFA president on Tuesday, ending a 40-year career at the sport's governing body just four days after being re-elected to a fifth term despite a U.S. corruption investigation.
    The 79-year-old, who has held office since 1998, announced the decision at a news conference in Zurich, six days after Swiss police, acting on a request from United States authorities, raided a hotel in the Swiss city and arrested several FIFA officials.
    Blatter has not been charged.
    Soccer fans in Rio said his resignation was to be expected and that the soccer world only stands to benefit from his downfall.
    "Everyone is seeing that there is a really big corruption scandal at FIFA and this (Blatter stepping down) was to be expected because it was announced that his number two man (Secretary-General Jerome Valcke) was involved and is being investigated and probably somewhere down the line it will be proved that he (Blatter) is involved too. It was to be expected. They've been saying this for a long time. Even here in Brazil they've been saying it for a long time," Alexandre da Silva, a 57-year-old cornerstone clerk said referring to reports that Blatter's right-hand man, Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, was implicated in a $10 million transaction under investigation that lies at the heart of the U.S. case. FIFA has denied that Valcke was involved.
    "I think it will be good 'in quotes,' you know? Because with him (Blatter) leaving, someone else will come in who might do the same thing he (Blatter) did, or not. But there is the chance that he (new FIFA president) won't. Soccer could get a lot better because of this," said Joao Henrique Dias da Silva, a 19-year-old office assistant.
    "Any change, anything that substitutes anyone of them (FIFA executives), that's what I think. The people can't take it anymore," 53-year-old systems analyst, Marcos Nossar told Reuters.
    When asked if Blatter leaving was good for soccer Nossar said it went beyond the sport itself.
    "It's good for everything. The exclusion of these people is good for everything. These kinds of people," Nossar added.
    Blatter, who began his career as a development officer in Ethiopia and then became secretary general from 1981 to 1988, said criticism from outside FIFA had weighed on his decision.
    FIFA called the news conference at their headquarters in a hilly Zurich suburb at only one hour and 20 minutes notice, an almost unprecedented move.
    Blatter had been re-elected to his fifth term after his only rival, Jordan's Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, withdrew after gaining 73 votes to Blatter's 133 in the first round of voting last Friday.
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