ZURICH (AP) — FIFA president Sepp Blatter is preparing to deliver long-awaited reforms to try to repair soccer’s battered reputation.
He may start by naming senior officials accused of taking kickbacks in the 1990s. Blatter promised zero tolerance of corruption after winning a fourth and final four-year term in June in an election that was rocked by the worst bribery scandal in the governing body’s history.
Blatter will present his reform plans Thursday at the start of a two-day executive committee meeting.
Now, the case of FIFA’s former marketing agency that collapsed in 2001 has reignited in Switzerland and Brazil. The issue threatens to cast harsh light on Blatter’s predecessor Joao Havelange; the head of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup organizers Ricardo Teixeira; and continental bosses Nicolas Leoz and Issa Hayatou.
