Blatter booed at Fifa meeting
The boss of football’s governing body was booed and jeered at a meeting on Tuesday as delegates accused him of avoiding tough questions about his management.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter appeared to stage manage a question and answer session about the state of Fifa’s finances.
On Wednesday, a vote will be held to elect the next head of Fifa and Blatter’s behaviour seemed engineered to assist his campaign for an extended term in office.
Adam Crozier, the boss of the English FA, said: “I am very disappointed and very angry and I think those feelings are shared by the majority of people here.
“The way the meeting was handled was an absolute disgrace.
“There were a number of people who wished to speak but I think Mr Blatter was working from a very selective list of those he wanted the congress to hear.”
“It was absolutely scandalous,” said Issa Hayatou, the head of the African Football Confederation (CAF), who is standing against
Blatter for the presidency.
Fifa general secretary Michel Zen Ruffinen a former ally of Blatter said: “Fifa is not working any more. In the 16 years
I have been at Fifa I have never seen anything like this. We will have to rebuild Fifa.”
Zen Ruffinen produced an explosive report this month for the executive committee claiming Blatter had mismanaged Fifa’s money.
Blatter has been accused by top Fifa officials of spending money to secure his re election. They have started legal action in
Switzerland, where the world body is based.
But the Fifa president has insisted that the finances are sound and is confident of winning another term.
“We will show you where the money comes from and where the money goes. We have nothing to hide and will hide nothing,” said Blatter.
David Will, the Fifa vice president in charge of the Internal Audit Committee, has said that he is going to recommend that the congress does not approve the financial report for 2001 or the budget proposals for 2003 2006.