Last June, FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced he was stepping down after the major corruption scandal the organization was going through; where a US Justice Department indictment naming 14 criminal defendants including top FIFA officials on charges of bribery, money laundering, and fraud. Although Blatter was not charged with any of the mentioned crimes, they did happen during his 20-year presidency, so the pressure for him to step down had been immense.
Despite being recently re-elected (at the time) Blatter had to announce the news six days after the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials. Needless to say his remaining months as president have not been easy ones. The Swiss official spoke to the French publication L’Equipe where he explained how fearful and devastated he felt when the allegations surfaced. “I had the feeling I’d been abandoned. That day I thought, ‘even God has abandoned me’,” Blatter expressed. “When something like that falls upon you, it was just terrible; I felt like everything was crumbling. At first I felt anger, then sadness.”
Further on, Blatter said he blames the United States for what happened as they planned the whole thing as a form of revenge. “If the vote had favored the United States, Americans would have had no reason to attack FIFA because they would’ve had their World Cup and I would have finished my four last years as president at ease. When Qatar won I told myself, ‘here’s where the difficulties start.’”
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