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FIFA president Sepp Blatter feels he is being wrongly indicted in the recent FIFA corruption scam and has challenged his accusers to prove those claims. He says he has a clear conscience and that he will even go to heaven one day.
The 79-year-old announced his resignation last month before adding that he would remain in office until a new successor is elected in an extraordinary congress that is scheduled to take place between December and March. However, recently, Blatter had suggested that that he may not step down via Swiss newspaper Blick.
In an interview with German magazine Bunte, he said, “I have a clean conscience. If somebody accuses me of being corrupt, I ask him whether he knows the meaning of that word.
“Whoever calls me corrupt will have to prove it, but nobody can prove that because I am not corrupt,” he said according to The Guardian.
“I am open to correct or positive criticism. I can use that to reconsider if I need to change in the future. But if anybody calls me corrupt because FIFA is corrupt, I can only shake my head. Everybody who says something like that should go to jail.”
I will go to heaven one day: Blatter
Blatter added, “My faith has given me strength during the last week. I am a religious person and pray, too. I own a golden cross that has been blessed by Pope Francis. I believe I will go to heaven one day. But I believe there is no hell. I disagree with the pope on that.”
His resignation comes on the back of a FIFA corruption scandal in which fourteen senior executives of the football’s governing body, including nine current and former FIFA officials and five sports marketing businessmen, were charged with fraud in May by prosecutors in the United States.
Blatter’s US lawyer had confirmed a few days ago that he will not attend the Women’s World Cup final between Japan and USA to be held in Canada, citing ‘personal reasons’, as reported by The Guardian.
Blatter serves as the 8th president of FIFA and has been incumbent since June 1998. He was recently re-elected as the FIFA president for the 5th consecutive term after his opponent Prince Ali bin Hussein announced his withdrawal handing Blatter a victory by default. This happened only four days before the 79-year-old declared that he would step down.
