Fifa President Sepp Blatter will resign from soccer’s governing body amid a widening corruption scandal and has promised to call for fresh elections to choose a successor.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Explosive letter
Blatter’s shock decision comes on the same day a letter emerged appearing to contradict claims his right-hand man was not involved in the payment of an alleged $10million bribe.
The letter implicates former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner in an alleged corrupt bid to secure the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
2. Standing down for ‘the good of football’
During his resignation, Blatter said: ‘I have thoroughly considered my presidency and about the last 40 years in my life, these years were closely related to Fifa.
‘I decided to stand again for election for the good of football, but my mandate does not appear to be supported by everybody.
‘The elections are closed but the challenges we are facing have not. Fifa needs profound restructuring.’
3. New president to be announced ASAP
An extraordinary congress will be called to elect a new president, Blatter said.
As part of Fifa’s work, the organisation will re-examine the way in which it is structured. While it would be premature to speculate on the outcomes of this work, nothing will be off the table, including the structure and composition of the Executive Committee and the way in which members of the Executive Committee are elected
The governing body said there is significant work to be done in order to regain the trust of the public and to fundamentally reform the way in which people see Fifa.
4. Could England host the 2018 World Cup?
A question hangs over who should host the 2018 World Cup.
Lennart Johansson, the former head of Uefa, previously claimed that England should host the World Cup instead of Russia and, amid the corruption crisis, anything is possible.
5. Beginning of the end
Blatter’s decision marks the beginning of the end of his 17-year reign as Fifa president, with much of it now tainted by investigations into the organisation’s conduct, specifically regarding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.
Fifa is likely to undergo substantial reform following the announcement, with United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch stating last week that the recent arrests of several senior officials suggest that the corruption in the organisation is ‘rampant, systemic and deep-rooted’.
