10 Things Sepp Blatter Wants You To Forget

10. Previous Corruption Scandals

The general reaction of the world in response to the FBI’s allegations of FIFA corruption is one of shock and disgust. Yet these latest revelations are hardly... well, revelatory, when you take a look at just some of the other corruption scandals that have dogged FIFA in recent years. Here are just a couple of allegations that have occurred during Sepp Blatter’s reign as FIFA president:

- Former FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner was revealed to be the recipient of over £720k in bribes from a company controlled by a former Qatari football official. Jack Warner’s sons also received payments in the hundreds of thousands.

- Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz and Brazilian Ricardo Teixeira both resigned from positions in FIFA after it was revealed they had accepted illegal payments from ISL, a marketing company who secured World Cup rights in the 1990s. Honorary FIFA President Joao Havelange also resigned over similar wrongdoings.

Sepp Blatter’s recent response to the FBI’s latest allegations was to predictably deny all knowledge of any wrongdoings. The effect is a curious kind of catch-22, in that it leaves people wondering if Sepp is either just as corrupt as those officials so far incriminated on corruption charges, or just too incompetent to notice. Either way it doesn’t fill us with confidence over the prospect of a less morally reprehensible footballing future.