UEFA calls for Blatter to resign but bottles boycott; sponsors nervous; Nike embroiled

UEFA will not boycott Friday’s FIFA congress despite an earlier threat of the possibility.

The warning came yesterday amid the news of the arrests of 14 officials in Zurich on corruption charges. Instead, the European nations will attend and vote for FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.

The son of Jordan’s King Hussein is the only candidate opposing current FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

It seems however that support from Africa, Asia and South America will see Blatter re-relected.

However according to ESPN, UEFA has also not ruled out the possibility of a World Cup boycott by UEFA members if Sepp Blatter is re-elected.

Asked if a boycott of FIFA competitions was a possibility, Platini told media:

“UEFA associations will meet in Berlin next week. We will be open to all options.”

Sponsors are getting nervous. According to the Guardian, Visa – one of FIFA’s key sponsors – has threatened it could pull out of its contract with football’s world governing body over the corruption scandal.

The credit card company issued a statement on Wednesday expressing its “disappointment and concern with FIFA”. It said that unless football’s world governing body rebuilds a corporate culture with “strong ethical practices” at its heart, “we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship”.

Even hopes that UEFA could form a united block to out him seem doomed. Russian president Vladimir Putin has publicly backed him which means the Russian FA will vote for him, and Spain seems set to back him t00.

Earlier in the day, UEFA President Michel Platini met privately with Blatter and asked him to resign.

The scandal is creeping closer to home. Yesterday, US Attorney-General revealed that $110m in bribes had been spent to bring the 2016 Copa America to the USA. Nike is the sponsor of Brazil.

Today Nike became embroiled after it emerged that the AG’s indictment claimed that in 1996 a global sports company sponsoring the Brazilian national team (Nike) agreed to financial terms not in the initial contract. These terms included an additional $40m to an affiliate of the team’s marketing agent with a Swiss bank account.

Nike said it was co-operating in the investigation.

Also See:

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