Head of Norway FA calls for Blatter to step down

"I stand behind the analysis of Michael van Praag and his considerations and time will tell what happens," Yngve Hallén told Norway's VG newspaper. "This is an important signal to send now. The reform process must continue." 

 

Michael van Praag, the President of the Dutch football association and a member of the European football association's executive committee, on Tuesday denounced the 78-year-old Blatter from Brazil, where he was attending the launch of the 2014 World Cup, which starts on Thursday.  

 

“There are very few people who still take Fifa seriously and whatever way you want to cut and dice it, Blatter is responsible in the end,” he declared, adding that Fifa was now widely linked to "corruption and bribery". 

 

Blatter this week told a meeting of European football chiefs that be planned to seek reelection when his present term as Fifa president comes to an end next year, reversing a commitment given in 2011 that he would step down. The Swiss has spent no fewer than 16 years at the head of the organisation. 

 

Hallén said that the Blatter's future would ultimately be decided by what whether other regions in the world backed European calls for him to stand down. 

 

"Uefa and Europe are strong in football. That's where the big world stars are, the biggest clubs and the biggest competitions. But we must also listen and have respect for what the rest of the world thinks," he said. 

 

Fifa has been thrown into a new scandal in recent weeks after a Sunday Times investigation which seemed to show vast corruption surrounding the selection of Qatar as host of the 2022 World Cup.