What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. In Sepp Blatter's case, however, it only exacerbates your arrogance.
The FIFA president told an emergency meeting of football's governing body that, despite growing political pressure over a corruption scandal, he will not quit. After seven top FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich on Wednesday, UK prime minister David Cameron urged Blatter to resign. Russian president Vladimir Putin backed him for a fifth term.
All signs point to said fifth term on Friday, as the vote for president will continue as scheduled.
Speaking for the first time since Wednesday's developments, Blatter told the annual congress of the members of FIFA (via the New York Times), "[Soccer observers] hold me ultimately responsible for the actions and reputation of the global football community, whether it's the destination of the hosting of a World Cup or a corruption scandal."
"We, or I, cannot monitor everyone all of the time," he inexplicably added, negating the shear nature of his position. "If people want to do wrong, they will also try to hide it. But it must also fall to me to be responsible for the reputation of our entire organization, and to find a way to fix things."
Fortunately for the sport, Michel Platini has the solution. The UEFA president stated a majority of UEFA members will back rival candidate Prince Ali bin Al Hussein on Friday, and took it a step further by threatening to boycott future World Cups.
"UEFA associations will meet in Berlin next week," Platini said (via beIN Sports). "We will be open to all options. There may be proposals [to boycott FIFA competitions]. I honestly don't wish that."
Elections will be held at the club's headquarters in Zurich on Friday.
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