There seems to be no end to the convulsions and scandals that hang around the neck of Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa. If the administrators of the beautiful game are ever to recover their tarnished reputations, it will mean that Blatter must step aside — sooner, not later — and must certainly give up any hope of seeking a third term next year.
Simply put, Blatter’s handling of the World Cup bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments has been laughable. His handling of the investigation into how Russia and Qatar won those bids has been akin to an anvil crushing a walnut. Even his attempt to clarify the investigation by releasing a condensed version of the report that cleared both Russia and Qatar has been panned by Michael Garcia, the author of the original dossier.
Now, Fifa has been backing into the embarrassing position of asking Swiss police to investigate the bidding processes.
Blatter has scored one own-goal after another in this sad and unfortunate chapter. It is about time he is given a red card from the sport.
