EU parliament urges Blatter to quit Fifa job immediately

[STRASBOURG, France] The European Parliament called on Thursday on Sepp Blatter to step down immediately as Fifa president and allow for an interim leader to launch reforms in football's governing body.

In a show of hands, members of parliament overwhelmingly voted for the resolution during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France.

The resolution is not legally binding, but amounts to political pressure.

In the wake of a massive corruption scandal, Mr Blatter, 79, tendered his resignation on June 2 but it will not take effect until December at the earliest.

In the text approved by parliament, legislators welcomed Mr Blatter's resignation that came just four days after he was re-elected as head of Fifa for a fifth term.

But it expressed serious concern "that the credibility of Fifa, as world football's governing body, and the urgent reforms required, cannot begin in earnest until a new leadership is appointed."

Since that might not happen for another nine months under Fifa rules, the draft "therefore calls on Fifa to select, in a transparent and inclusive way, an appropriate interim leader to replace Joseph Blatter forthwith," it added.

Football's governing body was plunged into a crisis at the end of May when 14 current or former Fifa officials and sports marketing executives were charged in Zurich, Switzerland as part of a US investigation into alleged corruption.

The fallout led to Mr Blatter's resignation, but his replacement will not be known until December at the earliest, leaving the organisation in limbo in the meantime.

AFP