How long can Sepp Blatter remain president of Fifa, the international body that controls world football?
With Swiss authorities formally investigating the 79-year-old German for a payment he made to fellow football administrator Michel Platini, it seems that his five-term reign at the top of Fifa may be coming to an end. And not soon enough.
Blatter’s tenure at Fifa has been consistently marred by corruption allegations, with the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals now under full scrutiny. Blatter, however, is a man who has grown use to wielding power at the highest level of football, and in doing so he has lost his hearing — deaf to the howls of protest at corruption and the manner in which he made Fifa his fiefdom.
Now that the major sponsors of Fifa have finally said that he has to go, his time may well and truly be up.
If there is one thing Blatter has shown at Fifa, it is that money talks. And right now, the people that pay the bills are loudly and clearly saying Blatter has to go. It’s high time he was shown a red card.