Sepp Blatter returned to his office Wednesday and FIFA’s headquarters tried to put on an air of routine after the drama of the resignation of the longtime world football boss.
“Everything continues as before. The president is still president, until the election of his successor,” said a FIFA spokeswoman at the Zurich headquarters where dozens of television cameras waited at the entrance.
But the spokeswoman said that “no media activities” were expected the day afterBlatter stunned the world with his resignation declaration.
Blatter has said he will keeping working until an election is held and that is not expected until December at the earliest.
The 79-year-old Swiss official announced his resignation at the headquarters. The press conference was arranged with such speed that barely a dozen journalists turned up.
“It’s tough,” said one of the Zurich employees who spoke on condition of anonymity. FIFA now has 1,400 staff around the world.
Some carried local newspapers such as 20 Minutes, whose front page headline said “Blatter abandons.”
An AFP reporter was allowed in to the grounds at 8:00am. Children from a local French school were preparing for a match in the FIFA pitch and nothing indicated a multi-billion dollar organisation in the midst of a corruption crisis.
“It’s just a coincidence that we are here today,” said one teacher.
At 9.20am, a security official asked the AFP reporter to leave, giving an indication that maybe events are not so routine. “It is a special day,” the official said to justify the order to leave FIFA’s calm complex.
(AFP)
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