Sepp Blatter has claimed that he “did not
resign” as FIFA president, according to a
report by the Swiss newspaper Blick.
“I did not resign. I put myself and my office in
the hands of the FIFA congress,” Blick
reported Blatter as saying during a visit to the
site of the future FIFA museum in the Swiss
city of Zurich.
The 79-year-old Blatter announced on June 2
that he would step down from the FIFA
presidency at an extraordinary congress to be
held between December this year and March
2016.
That decision followed the crisis that engulfed
FIFA with 18 people indicted in the United
States on football-related corruption charges.
Since then, sources close to Blatter have been
reported as saying he was not ruling out the
prospect of going back on his decision to
resign after receiving messages of support
from Asian and African federations.
On Friday, FIFA confirmed Blatter’s comments
but said that they were “nothing new. They
are exactly the words he used in his speech on
June 2 when he explained that he would lay
down his mandate and would continue with
his mission until the elective congress.”
Blatter’s announcement on June 2 came just
days after he had been re-elected as president.
At the time, he said: “While I have a mandate
from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel
that I have a mandate from the entire world of
football.
“Therefore, I have decided to lay down my
mandate at an extraordinary elective congress.
I will continue to exercise my functions as
FIFA president until that election.”
An extraordinary meeting of the FIFA
Executive Committee will take place in Zurich
on July 20, when a date will be fixed for the
congress at which Blatter’s successor will be
elected.
Ten days ago, Klaus Stoehlker, Blatter’s
advisor during the last election campaign,
indicated that he could go back on his
decision to stand down if no “convincing
candidate” emerged.
However, the head of FIFA’s audit and
compliance unit, Domenico Scala, responded
to those claims by saying “it is clearly
indispensable to follow through with the
initiated process of president’s change as it
has been announced.”

source:
www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/blatter-did-not-resign-report/

Blatter would have made a wonderful sit-tight African leader