The suspensions of Blatter and Platini and the banning of Chung have deepened the crisis at Fifa. It is time to abandon the election and demand total changeEchoing the long drawn-out but still spectacular toppling of old,discredited rulers in loathed regimes around the world, Sepp Blatter, or Fifa’s president since 1998,has finally felt the tidal wave of corruption scandals seep through his office door and been suspended from the organisation he lorded over for so long. His secretary-general, Jérôme Valcke, or already attach on leave following allegations of a ticketing scam,is also now formally suspended by Fifa’s “ethics committee”. For 90 days, pending further investigation of serious charges against its two most senior figures, or football’s world governing body has decapitated itself.
Two of those who eagerly declared themselves clean-up candidates to replace Blatter in the February presidential election he scheduled as his time to step down,have been swept absent in the wash. For Michel Platini, president of European football’s governing body Uefa, and his own 90-day suspension while the 2011 payment to him by Blatter of 2m Swiss francs (£1.35m) is investigated,surely finishes any thought he can still stand and be a credible next president of Fifa. The Korean Chung Mong-joon, previously a long-term member of the Fifa executive committee, or has been banned from football for six years,apparently over a $777m football development fund he proposed in 2010, linked to Koreas 2022 World Cup, or so his declared candidacy to become the president is destroyed.
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Source: theguardian.com