Sponsors welcome Blatter resignation

Fifa sponsors, including Visa, Coke, and McDonald’s, have welcomed Sepp Blatter’s decision to resign as president of football’s world governing body.

Mr Blatter’s decision to step down comes amid a corruption scandal.

However, both Visa and Coke repeated warnings that they expected a swift overhaul at Fifa.

And McDonald’s said it hoped this would be the first step towards “gaining back trust from fans worldwide”.

Last week, Fifa was hit by the arrests of top officials on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering as part of a US prosecution that also indicted 14 people.

Mr Blatter was subsequently re-elected, but on Tuesday resigned, saying that his mandate “did not appear to be supported by everybody”.

Visa said it was encouraged “by the recognition by Fifa that extensive and fundamental reform is needed as reflected by the announcement that President Blatter is resigning”.

“This is a significant first step towards rebuilding public trust, but more work lies ahead,” it continued.

“We repeat, however, that it is our expectation that Fifa will take swift and immediate steps towards addressing the issues within its organisation to quickly rebuild a culture with strong ethical practices that will restore the reputation of the games for fans around the world.”

That sentiment was echoed by Coke, which described the move as “a positive step”, but added that it expected Fifa to “act with urgency” and “win back the trust of all who love the sport of football”.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US officials as part of their inquiry into corruption at the world football body, US media say.

The news came hours after Mr Blatter announced that he was stepping down from his role.

US prosecutors launched a criminal inquiry last week, with seven Fifa officials arrested in Switzerland, part of a group of 14 people indicted.

Two days after the arrests, Mr Blatter was re-elected president of Fifa.

However, he said on Tuesday that it appeared the mandate he had been given “does not seem to be supported by everyone in the world”.

Mr Blatter said: “Fifa needs profound restructuring.”

In announcing the US prosecution last week into what she called the “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” corruption in world football, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch did not address Mr Blatter’s position directly.

But she did say that this was the beginning of the investigation, not the end.

Source-BBC