Sepp Blatter must have known about the $10 million payment sent from a FIFA account to the disgraced former vice-president Jack Warner, former UEFA president Lennart Johansson has claimed.
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Blatter announced on Tuesday he will step down as president next year and the FBI is reported to be investigating both him and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke as part of its probe into corruption involving FIFA officials which has seen 18 people already indicted.
Johansson, the 85-year-old who was beaten by Blatter in the 1998 presidential election, said: “I think that he must go immediately.
Former Uefa president Lennart Johansson: “I think [Blatter] must go immediately.”
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“I think the investigation has told him they will find out exactly what was done and by whom. The general secretary (Valcke) was sending away millions of dollars to America and then Blatter claims that he didn’t know.
“He knows everything that’s going on so don’t believe that. The cash out (was) so much money and he who keeps everything under such tight control should know about it, this is nonsense.”
FIFA has yet to respond to Johansson’s comments and refused to say whether Blatter or Valcke will attend the women’s World Cup in Canada.
Blatter would normally attend the finals but is remaining in Zurich following Tuesday’s announcement. Neither will he attend an International Olympic Committee meeting in Lausanne next week, FIFA has confirmed.
Meanwhile, Britain’s David Gill has ruled himself out as a candidate for the FIFA presidency. The 57-year-old British FIFA vice-president had been viewed as one of the potential successors to Blatter but has told colleagues at UEFA and the Football Association that he will not stand to be the next leader of the global organisation. It is understood Gill will take up his position on the FIFA executive committee.
The chances of UEFA president Michel Platini standing for the FIFA post may also be diminishing.
Germany’s federation president Wolfgang Niersbach has backed Michael van Praag to run and told German TV station ZDF: “Michel (Platini) would have been a great candidate when Blatter promised to step down (in 2011) and now he is in lots of discussions.”
Asked about van Praag, Niersbach added: “His professional experience and his integrity make him the ideal man.”
