March 9 – Banned former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he still hasn’t given up trying to clear his name and intends to ask the new-look FIFA ethics committee to reconsider his case and lift his six-year ban.
Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, was barred for ethics violations in 2015 shortly after the Swiss attorney general’s office began criminal proceedings against him on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation. No charges have yet been brought and Blatter has denied wrongdoing.
“It is now two and a half years, this file has not moved,” Blatter told selected reporters. “It is like having the Sword of Damocles over my head because you never know what will happen.”
“I am looking to have a solution also from the FIFA ethics committee to lift the suspension, which is a nonsense,” he said. “I am also trying to see how we can change it. I hope to have a solution in the next three months before we open the World Cup in Russia.”
Turning to the 2026 World Cup, Blatter, who has made no secret of his support for underdogs Morocco, says the favoured three-nation USA-Canada-Mexico bid seemed “afraid” of losing.
A reshuffle of the management team this week reduced the role of previous bid chairman Sunil Gulati, the most senior American in FIFA who served on the executive committee under Blatter. “They give the impression that they are not any longer very sure that they will win, that’s my impression,” Blatter said. “But I don’t know why they are afraid.”
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