Sports Briefs
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SEPP Blatter, Fifa president, will not travel to Canada for the final of the Women’s World Cup on Sunday, July 5. The Fifa boss who cited “personal reasons” for not going, said he had planned to attend the final match in Vancouver, despite Jerome Valcke, Fifa general secretary, pulling out of the opening ceremony. However, Isaa Hayatou, a senior Fifa vice-president, would attend instead.
Two criminal investigations into alleged Fifa corruption are ongoing.
Richard Cullen, Blatter’s lawyer, said the 79-year-old Fifa boss, who is reportedly under investigation in the United States, and Valcke would remain at Fifa headquarters “due to their current commitments in Zurich.”
This will be the first time since he became president in 1998 that Blatter would not present the trophy of the tournament to winners. In May, Blatter was elected for a fifth term in office, but has since announced that he will no longer lead the sport’s world governing body.
He said he had not resigned from his position but would not be considering standing for re-election at an emergency meeting of the executive committee in December.
Seven Fifa officials were arrested on May 27, following a dawn raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich during a Fifa convention. They were among 14 officials and associates indicted by the US authorities on racketeering and bribery charges.
Swiss prosecutors have also begun a separate criminal investigation into how the rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were awarded.
— Jul 13, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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Tags: Blatter's lawyer Canada Isaa Hayatou Jerome Valcke personal reasons Richard Cullen Sepp Blatter United States Vancouver Women's World Cup
