Sepp Blatter has pulled out of a FIFA conference he was to address as a corruption scandal engulfs football’s governing body by the hour.
The embattled president had been due to speak at a medical event – in what would have been his first public appearance since the arrests that have rocked FIFA’s annual congress in Switzerland reports Sky News.
Speaking to Sky News FIFA officilas said the 79-year-old was pulling out of the session – which may have given the world’s media a first chance to question him about the £96m bribery racket outlined by US prosecutors.
Jiri Dvorak, special adviser to FIFA’s medical committee, told the conference: “President Blatter apologises for not being able to come today because of the turbulences you have heard about… he has to fulfil his duties as President managing the situation, which are probably more important.”
Seven senior FIFA officials were arrested in their five-star hotel in Zurich over claims they had been part of “rampant and systemic and deep-rooted” corruption running through football over a 24-year period.