GENEVA — FIFA President Sepp Blatter has not made a U-turn on his plans to leave office, the governing body said Friday. FIFA responded after Swiss daily Blick reported comments made by Blatter late Thursday at an event to thank construction workers at FIFA's new museum in Zurich. Blatter said that he technically did not resign on June 2 but had pledged to leave at a special election congress, which is still being organized. “I have not resigned, but I put back my mandate at the disposition of the next extraordinary congress,” the outgoing FIFA leader said in Blick's report. In his speech on June 2, Blatter did not use the word “resign” and also pledged he would not be a candidate at the next election, which is expected to be held between December and March. “We can confirm the quotes in Blick are accurate,” FIFA said in a statement. “However, they are fully in line with the speech of the President on June 2.” Blatter has a tendency to play with words, leaving FIFA to clarify his meaning. Previously, Blatter has spoken of a “mistake” in the awarding of the 2022 World Cup before it was later explained that he meant the error lay in choosing to play in the summer heat in Qatar. The tournament is now scheduled for Nov.-Dec. 2022. Doubts about Blatter's promise to leave office were also fueled by Swiss public relations executive Klaus Stoehlker, who served as a campaign adviser ahead of Blatter's recent re-election win. “The president is fully prepared to step down but only if there is a competitor who is able to take over the job,” Stoehlker told the AP on June 15, comparing Blatter to an ancient Swiss warrior. “The Swiss warrior takes decisions, and perhaps when the war is changing, he makes a new decision.” Funding for women's soccerclosely monitored — FIFA Funds allocated to the development of women's soccer will be closely monitored with random audits to ensure the money is going where it should, world soccer's governing body FIFA said Thursday. With FIFA engulfed in corruption, bribery and money laundering scandals, Mayrilian Cruz-Blanco, FIFA's senior women's football development manager, told a news conference there were strict guidelines on where money from a Financial Assistance Program (FAP) would go and how it would be spent. “The Financial Assistance Program is very well monitored, every year before the funds are released the member associations have to submit the project where they want to spend this funding,” said Cruz-Blanco. “A minimum 15 percent they must be able to allocate (to women's soccer projects) ... and we check that 15 percent is allocated before we give them more funding from the women's Football Development Program. “For every member association it is compulsory they do an audit. Also FIFA does a random audit on a number of countries to be sure the funding goes to the right place.” FIFA invests about $900 million a year in soccer projects around the world, though Cruz-Blanco defended the practice of only committing 15 percent to women's programs. “The number (15 percent) is an encouragement, it is just a minimum percent,” she said, adding that 177 countries invest over $38 million in the women's game annually. “It started in 2004 at five percent ...and it was a message from FIFA that funds had to be invested into women and girls. “At the time there was not so much interest but interest has grown and we have obviously increased that. “We see that member associations are investing more-and-more of that financial assistance into women's football.” — Agencies
