Blatter: Why now and what next?

Why has the most powerful, and until yesterday, the most stubborn man in football decided enough is enough just days after winning a relatively healthy mandate to carry on?

Could Sepp Blatter smell the cordite from an FBI gun? Or did a weekend’s reflection make him realise he simply didn’t have the stomach for the inevitable scrutiny that will continue to follow his every step?

There are many other possibilities too of course, but whatever the correct version, there’s no denying his downfall was as dramatic as it was unexpected.

On Saturday he was defiant in front of a mainly British media armed with question after question on corruption within Fifa.

Some were very specific - some not so - but all were critical of either the rotten organisation he leads or the potential for him to be sucked into the sewer currently being sieved by the FBI and Swiss authorities.

Each and every enquiry ricocheted off him; only a few landing glancing blows.

In that very same room yesterday a very different man took to the stage. A man who admitted defeat and a man who looked broken as his small, elderly frame shuffled out of the door.

Yesterday I spoke to someone close to Mr Blatter; someone who had discussed his likely course of action with him.

He told me that the President considered Fifa to be his “baby” and he wanted his legacy to be reforming it.

Blatter apparently felt deceived by those who had used Fifa’s gold mine as a personal bank account and wanted the satisfaction of clearing the ones that were left from the organisation.

Of course he wasn’t aware all this large scale fraud was going on - how could he possibly have been?

And by the way, where did the impetus for the joint American/ Swiss investigation come from in the first place?

Well, Mr Blatter, would have you believe it was the internal investigation he set in place and the evidence he passed to the Swiss courts.

However delusional, Mr Blatter genuinely believes he is the man to right these wrongs and implement his vision of reform.

We must not allow this to happen; Blatter is a dead man walking. He is yesterday’s man who, if he had really wanted to, has had 17 years to effect change at Fifa.

The last thing football needs is for him to appoint a successor or to help mould the shape of a newly formed organisation.

So what needs overhauling? It’s clear a system where an Executive Committee, elected by its region of the world and allowed to operate in the shadows is a framework for corruption.

Fifa needs to run more like a big international company; with a representative board and senior staff it appoints itself.

But the most important change has to be that the new Fifa commits to transparency. Every cent it collects or pays out needs to be accounted for and available to public scrutiny.

If Fifa exists for those who love football, then let those who love football have a clear view of what’s going on.

How much does everyone at Fifa earn? What expenses do they claim? Which development grants go where? What is that cash used for? Who is monitoring that and how much is getting through to grass roots or football related projects?

Everything has to be laid on the table - draw back those financial curtains and let the sunlight in.

At a stroke, widespread corruption becomes that much more difficult to carry off and therefore much more unlikely.

Greg Dyke described Sepp Blatter’s resignation as a “great day for football.”

He may well be right but then he went on to say in his round of interviews yesterday that Qatar’s football leaders would not be sleeping so soundly now.

Dyke deserves credit for his forthright and outspoken opposition to Blatter’s Fifa but the FA has to be careful what political game it plays now.

Of course, if proof is uncovered that Qatar did, or even attempted to, buy the 2022 World Cup then that is a game changer.

But there is no mileage in throwing around threats and allegations without genuine evidence, leave the investigating to the Swiss and Americans.

If England wants to be at the heart of how world football is run from here on in, then negotiations over the next six months are key.

Blatter or not, English football still battles a reputation for post-colonial arrogance within much of world football. The next President may well hold that opinion too.

And it is also, always worth remembering that it was not Dyke, not UEFA, not even the tireless and award winning work of investigative journalists that brought us to where we are today - but it was a knock on the door from American law enforcement.