Sepp Blatter resigns as FIFA president amid corruption scandal
What you need to know:
- The 79-year-old Swiss official, FIFA president for 17 years and only re-elected on Friday, said a special congress would be called as soon as possible to elect a successor.
- Blatter said that the scandal-tainted FIFA needs "profound reconstruction" and that he had "thoroughly reconsidered" his presidency since his re-election.
Sepp Blatter on Tuesday resigned as president of FIFA as a mounting corruption scandal engulfed world football's governing body.
The 79-year-old Swiss official, FIFA president for 17 years and only re-elected on Friday, said a special congress would be called as soon as possible to elect a successor.
Blatter said that the scandal-tainted FIFA needs "profound reconstruction" and that he had "thoroughly reconsidered" his presidency since his re-election.
He added that the vote "does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football."
His resignation came less than a week after Swiss police arrested seven FIFA officials, including two vice presidents, at a Zurich hotel.
The arrests were carried out on behalf of US prosecutors who accuse the seven, and eight other suspects, of involvement in $150 million of bribes.
