Ex-FIFA boss admits US probe led to resignation

Former FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter admitted Monday that his decision to resign as head of world football's governing body was due to pressure from an American investigation into corruption charges.

"They said, 'The head must go,'" he told the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA. "Then I give up my mandate, then suddenly FIFA no longer is a mafia organization to US prosecutors, rather the victim."

Blatter, 84, relinquished his mandate at FIFA in June 2015 months after being reelected as the body's president. His stepping down came shortly after FIFA functionaries were arrested in Zürich as part of a US corruption probe.

FIFA's ethics committee then suspended the Swiss football administrator from football in October 2015.

Blatter was first elected FIFA president in 1998. Under his watch, the World Cup became one of the biggest revenue makers in sports, but his tenure was marred by scandals relating to the awarding of several World Cups, including the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Read more: A timeline of FIFA scandals under Blatter

Infantino 'full of himself'

After the resignation, FIFA elected Gianni Infantino, another Swiss functionary who was working at Europe's football confederation UEFA, as Blatter's successor in 2016.

Blatter told Keystone-SDA that he believed Swiss authorities helped clear a path for Infantino — who, like Blatter, is also Swiss — to take the top job.

"It seems that Infantino wanted to clear the way to the FIFA presidency," Blatter said.

Blatter also called Infantino a "megalomaniac" who is "full of himself" and wants to turn "football into a huge money machine."

dv/stb (dpa)

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