President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter was 'a very respected person', adding that it was up to investigators to establish whether there actually were cases of corruption in the world soccer body.
Seventy thousand fans cheered wildly as world soccer boss Joseph Blatter went round the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata in an open jeep.
Sepp Blatter said he will not support any of the five candidates standing to succeed him as FIFA president, through all but one of them had spoken to him about their bids.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter shrugged off Luis Figo's accusation he had turned world soccer's ruling body into a dictatorship.
'It is impossible that FIFA moves on with its current presidency'
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, who failed in an attempt to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in May, says Blatter should not be handling the reform process.
Here is the full text of the statement issued by FIFA on Monday detailing the suspension of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini for eight years.
Unless the world of soccer shifts on its axis at the end of this month, Sepp Blatter will be re-elected as FIFA president.
Sepp Blatter has announced his decision to stand down at a news conference in Zurich, six days after the FBI had raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials.
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan said on Tuesday he would stand for the presidency of world soccer's governing body FIFA later this year.
The leadership of crisis-hit world football governing body FIFA gathered at their Zurich headquarters on Monday to set a date for the vote to replace outgoing president Sepp Blatter.
FIFA boss Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize for his stewardship of soccer's governing body, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired by Swiss broadcaster RTS on Monday.
Sepp Blatter has said that the events in the run-up to his re-election as FIFA president "do not smell right" and he was the victim of "hate" on the part of European soccer's governing body UEFA.
FIFA's appeal committee has upheld bans on longtime President Sepp Blatter and European football head Michel Platini for ethics violations but reduced them to six years from eight, it said on Wednesday.
Here is a look at how foreign media has reacted to this news.
Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA for a fifth term on Friday after the only other candidate conceded defeat after a first round of voting in an election overshadowed by allegations of corruption in world soccer.Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA for a fifth term on Friday after the only other candidate conceded defeat after a first round of voting in an election overshadowed by allegations of corruption in world soccer. Blatter's victory came despite demands that he quit in the face of a major bribery scandal being investigated by U.S., Swiss and other law enforcement agencies that plunged the world soccer body into the worst crisis in its 111-year history. Neither Blatter nor Jordanian challenger Prince Ali bin Al Hussein got the necessary two thirds of the vote in the first round, with Blatter on 133 and Prince Ali on 73. Prince Ali later conceded. In a victory speech, Blatter declared: "Let's go FIFA, let's go FIFA," to a standing ovation. Speaking just before the vote, Blatter, who joined FIFA in 1975, said he felt that he had only been with the organisation for a short time and wanted to stay longer. "What is time anyway. I find that the time I have spent at FIFA is very short," he said. "The more one ages the more time flies by quickly. I am with you, and I would like to stay with you," he said to applause.
An internal investigation of suspended FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter has found no evidence of corruption over a 2 million Swiss franc (1.3 million) payment to European football head Michel Platini, the Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung said on Wednesday.
The ethics committee of world soccer governing body FIFA said on Saturday it had completed its investigation into the conduct of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini and requested sanctions against them.
Meet the men who shall face off against FIFA president Sepp Blatter
Embattled FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Thursday the corruption scandal surrounding the world soccer body had brought shame and humiliation to football.
Sepp Blatter's shock resignation as FIFA president should allow people to now focus on events on the pitch .
"The Asian Football Confederation expresses its disappointment and sadness at Wednesday's events in Zurich whilst opposing any delay in the FIFA Presidential elections to take place on Friday May 29 in Zurich," the AFC said in a statement posted on its website (the-afc.com) on Thursday.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter will not see out his latest term of office following his re-election on Friday because he will be forced to resign, English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke told reporters on Saturday.
Embattled FIFA President Sepp Blatter has told a Swiss newspaper that continental confederations, rather than soccer's world governing body, were to blame for the corruption scandal engulfing the game.
Blatter quits FIFA; under investigation by US prosecutors, FBI.
Sepp Blatter could still perform a U-turn on his promise to stand down as FIFA president, a former adviser said on Monday, while FIFA did not directly deny the possibility.
Canada, which is hosting the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, will not support incumbent Sepp Blatter in Friday's presidential vote at the FIFA Congress, the head of the Canadian Soccer Association said on Thursday on his official Twitter account.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter is a mere servant at the service of football, he said on Friday as he re-stated his intention to run for a fifth mandate in next May's election.
The committee also handed out a 90-day suspension to FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, who had already been put on leave by the football body, and banned former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon for six years and fined him 100,000 Swiss francs (67,021).
Embattled FIFA President Sepp Blatter can expect a grilling if he shows up for the latter stages of the under-20 World Cup in New Zealand after the country's soccer officials said they were keen to hold clear-the-air discussions with him.
FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein's election team informed police after being approached by an individual who said he could deliver 47 votes at Friday's election, they said on Tuesday.
World soccer body FIFA ordered flags to be flown at half mast and a minute's silence to be held before the next round of international matches after the death of Nelson Mandela on Thursday.
Sepp Blatter, Luis Figo, Michael van Praag and Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein have bid to stand for FIFA president.
CONCACAF's congress witnessed an outburst of support for incumbent Sepp Blatter.
German champions Bayern Munich are close to signing former World and European champion Xabi Alonso from Champions League winners Real Madrid.
When Sepp Blatter is not comparing FIFA to a boat in calm or choppy waters he often uses football analogies to illustrate his point so it might amuse him to think he faces a tricky 45 minutes at this month's Congress.
Scandal-plagued FIFA may have avoided its current problems if Russia and Qatar had not been chosen as hosts of the next two World Cups, President Sepp Blatter said on Friday.
Suspended world soccer chief Sepp Blatter was named 'Swiss of the Year' on Thursday by a weekly magazine in his native Switzerland, on the same day he appeared before a FIFA ethics committee to face questioning in a corruption scandal.
Some of the men who might be candidates for FIFA president.
FIFA president Joseph Sepp Blatter presented the honour of excellence to 40 former football greats of India at a banquet here tonight.
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