By Andrew Warshaw
July 1 – Following increasing speculation, Sepp Blatter has decided not to attend this weekend’s Women’s World Cup Final in Canada citing “personal reasons”, a significant break with tradition that has immediately been linked to the FBI criminal investigation into football’s world governing body.
Blatter, who is stepping down as FIFA president in the wake of mounting US and Swiss probes into FIFA’s conduct, has not been charged with any wrongdoing but both he and his second-in-command, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, are skipping the final “due to their current commitments in Zurich,” FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA’s Senior Vice President Issa Hayatou is instead expected to hand over the trophy to the winners of Sunday’s game in Vancouver.
Neither Blatter nor Valcke have been cited in either probe but both were rocked by the US-led arrest last month of a string of senior football officials in Zurich just before the FIFA Congress, including two FIFA vice-presidents, charged with widespread money-laundering and racketeering. The lengthy US indictment, which has so far snared 18 officials including those detained in that infamous dawn raid in Zurich, claims those charged were involved in bribes of up to $150 million dating back 24 years.
FIFA have not explained what “other commitments” are keeping Blatter and Valcke at home but as a Swiss national, Blatter enjoys legal protection in his home country that he would not necessarily have abroad. Vancouver is only about 25 miles north of the U.S. border and, while American authorities continue to build their case, it is being widely construed that travelling to the final would present too great a risk. American law enforcement authorities have been quoted in the US as claiming that Blatter is part of the widening investigation.
At the same time, Swiss authorities are investigating possible criminal mismanagement with regard to the bidding contests that awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and 2022 tournament to Qatar.
It will be the first time in his 17 years in charge that Blatter has failed to attend the final of either the men’s or women’s World Cup. “He’s not going to go to the finals in Canada,” his US-based lawyer, Richard Cullen, was quoted as saying. “He has informed the organisers of that and cited personal reasons.”
Blatter has made a point in recent months of promoting the women’s game as an important part of his legacy and said before the tournament started that he was looking forward to attending. He will also miss the traditional high-profile women’s football seminar which runs from July 3 to 5 and which he had been scheduled to address.
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