Wednesday

Blatter replacement must be 'squeaky clean' says FA boss


Sepp Blatter's replacement as FIFA president must be "squeaky clean" and have a forensic eye to turn world soccer's scandal-hit governing body into a transparent organisation, said English FA chairman Greg Dyke.

Blatter unexpectedly announced earlier on Tuesday that he was quitting as FIFA chief, just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term.

Dyke has been an outspoken critic of Blatter and said in the wake of the 79-year-old's re-election that the Swiss would not see out his term of office.

Dyke described Blatter's decision to step down as a "good day for football", but said the replacement would have his work cut out after a corruption investigation plunged FIFA into the worst crisis in its history.

"The real issue now is whoever replaces Blatter has got to be squeaky clean because we haven't had a squeaky clean president of FIFA for many, many years," Dyke told Sky Sports.

"It has got to be somebody who can forensically look at that organisation, or bring in the forensic accountants to look at that organisation, sort out the money, find where it has gone.

"We don't even know how much money these people get paid, we don't know what their expenses are -- we know nothing. All that has got to be transparent.

"There's a lot of good people who work in FIFA who I think must be dismayed at what they've had to endure, certainly in the last week."

Dyke, who said future presidents should be prevented from standing for more than two terms in office, questioned the reasons behind Blatter's sudden resignation.

"He was triumphant in Zurich, four days later he's gone. So who got him, who shot him, is the interesting question," he said.

"I don't believe he went for any sort of moral basis because I don't believe that's the man, so something has happened between then and now which means he has to resign.

"I just don't think he's the sort of person who would suddenly have had a moral conversion on the road to Damascus and said, 'Oh maybe I'm not the right person for football'.

"He would have hung on forever so clearly something has happened. We'll find out no doubt in the next few days."

FIFA was rocked two days before the election when the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials. - Reuters