Adrian Warner
Lennart Johansson, one of the most experienced leaders in world soccer, said he is prepared to resign on Wednesday as the shockwaves from Sepp Blatter's convincing victory in the bitterest FIFA presidential election campaign in history started to reverberate.
The 72-year-old Johansson, who had strongly supported rival candidate Issa Hayatou, said he would ask UEFA if they wanted him to continue in office after Blatter's winning margin by 139 to 56 votes showed that the European governing body had not voted en bloc.
FIFA secretary general Michel Zen-Ruffinen, who had accused Blatter of mismanaging the world governing body by deception, illegal payments and cronyism, said he would also probably have to leave after an astonishing series of meetings in which Blatter and Hayatou exchanged heated words and gestures one day before hugging the next.
Johansson, one of five FIFA vice-presidents who have started a legal process against Blatter, said he would hold a meeting with UEFA leaders as soon as possible.
"I have to ask them if they still want me in place. I want to know if the situation is still the same as when they elected me (last month for a fourth term)," Johansson said. "I am prepared to step down.
"I am surprised by the result. I thought it would be a more open game."
Zen-Ruffinen had refused to take part in Tuesday's extraordinary congress on FIFA's troubled finances, the issue at the centre of the stormy campaign, because he did not approve the financial report presented to delegates.
His speech sparked off a noisy day of debates that ended with Hayatou storming out of the conference hotel following an argument with Blatter.
The two men hugged after the vote was announced on Wednesday, but Zen-Ruffinen and Blatter admitted it would be hard for them to kiss and make up.
"I still stand by what I said," Zen-Ruffinen said. "I have shown courage and I have the administration on my side. I am not going to resign but I probably will have to leave.
"I hope the organisation is going to look at the situation. It needs to improve."
Blatter added: "The general secretary says he is in trouble. He is in trouble.
"I shall now be a bit more prudent in the choice of people who work directly with me. I don't want to repeat that. If you are attacked from the outside of the house, you can close the doors and put policemen in front of the doors.
"But attacks from inside house. I don't know how to defend that."
TEA PARTY
Hayatou, the head of African football, refused to say a word to reporters as he left the central Seoul hotel where the vote took place, though he made a brief speech to the congress.
"I would like to congratulate Mr Blatter. He can count on my collaboration for his presidency," he said.
Blatter's main goal is to unite FIFA after a presidential campaign which made last year's battle for the top job in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) look like a vicar's tea party.
Like the IOC, FIFA has been accused of corruption. Hayatou ran his campaign on a platform of transparency, a word often used by IOC leaders as they tried to recover from their 1999 bribery scandal.
But while the IOC put a fresh face in charge in Jacques Rogge, FIFA decided to keep their president in place despite bitter attacks from his rivals and the media.
"For me the campaign has been self-defence, " Blatter said. "The last three months were not easy...(But) Issa Hayatou has never been my enemy. He was my opponent. He always behaved like a competitor. It is not Issa who spoilt the atmosphere."
