Sepp Blatter: 'Arrests could have happened at any time'

By Sian Cowper, Reporter | 30 May 2015

FIFA president Sepp Blatter insists that the arrests of a number of the organisation's officials did not need to take place so close to the election.

Sepp Blatter has insisted that the arrests of a number of FIFA officials did not need to take place so close to the organisation's presidential election.

Police arrived at the FIFA hotel in Zurich in the early hours of Wednesday morning, making a string of arrests on corruption charges just two days before the election.

The 79-year-old, who was re-elected after Prince Ali's withdrawal, said at a press conference: "A couple of words on the storm now. All of these events that have taken place culminating in the police storming the Zurich hotel, and curiously enough there were already American journalists present at the time, this storm has not passed but it has not become a hurricane at this time.

"We will work with our institutions and our bodies, and that way we will avoid future situations where there are surprises that catch us on the back foot. Furthermore, these crimes that have been committed, we need to establish whether they are administrative or criminal in nature.

"I do not see how FIFA are directly affected by the situations in the Americas. And the people involved could have been indicted at any time other than two days before the FIFA Congress."

Football Association board member David Gill has announced that he will not take up his post on FIFA's Executive Committee following Blatter's re-election.