Veteran FIFA President Sepp Blatter has resigned, four days after he was re-elected for a fifth term as boss of world football. But the relief with which his quitting has been greeted is misplaced. Blatter has not yet actually gone. Indeed he could stay in post, as a caretaker until next year, when FIFA will have another annual congress. Blatter of course has said that his replacement needs to be selected at an extraordinary general meeting of FIFA member countries. This assembly should, he explained, be as soon as possible. But he then went on to talk about the need to get the right candidates. Meanwhile he said he would devote himself to cleaning up FIFA. Looked at dispassionately, these do not appear to be the words of a man who is going anywhere else, any time soon. Indeed there are grounds to believe that Blatter has pulled off a brilliant blind-side move which has completely suckered his critics. Even before last week's FIFA general assembly, it would seem that Blatter had developed a clever game plan. He knew that the US and Swiss prosecutors were closing in on the organization that he had run so autocratically for 17 years. He may well have been surprised by the arrest of some of his top executives on the very eve of the FIFA congress but he already knew about the fast-gathering investigatory storm. He also understood what he had to do to increase his own chances of survival. Running for office was the simple part. He knew that with the Asian and African country votes in his pocket, he could see off the challenge from Jordan's Prince Ali. But he also knew that once he had been given a fifth term, he would immediately become an even bigger target for criticism. So the smartest thing for him to do was to win and then to step down, while insisting however that he stay in office until his successor can be chosen. This way he still holds FIFA's reins of power and can hope to counter some of the serious charges that are now being leveled against him as well other senior colleagues. Had Blatter stepped down immediately and handed over to his deputy, the senior vice-president, Cameroonian Issa Hayatou he would have lost the cover afforded by the walls of FIFA's Zurich headquarters. Hayatou, who has also been president of the Confederation of African Football for the last 27 years, was himself accused of corruption over the award of World Cup television rights during the 1990s. In 2002 he actually challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency but his candidacy was widely seen a token gesture, encouraged by Blatter for fear of a real opponent emerging. By refusing to leave the stage, the 79-year-old Blatter has ensured that he will continue to exert his influence over the organization he has dominated for so long. He knows where the bodies are buried. Even if he is innocent of any crimes, as boss of world football, he simply has to be in a position to know who has been involved in wrong-doing. Maybe his promised clean-up campaign will involve the exposure and firing of key executives as well as offering evidence against those now charged by US and Swiss authorities with bribery. We shall see.
