Despite today’s indictments, soccer’s global governing body says it will go ahead with Friday’s vote for president of the organization.
Neither candidate — Sepp Blatter, the four-term president, and his only opponent, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan — was named in the U.S. corruption indictments.
Before the arrests, Mr. Blatter of Switzerland, whose tenure has not been pristine, was widely expected to win. Delegates from 209 countries meeting in Zurich will cast ballots.
FIFA started out with a mission to regulate games around the globe and make sure that the rules of the sport were universal.
But today’s arrests confirm what many believed: that FIFA itself needs more oversight.
FIFA, which in French stands for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, was created in Paris on May 21, 1904.
It was already under withering criticism for awarding the 2018 World Cup finals to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar after a process that was open to voting abuse.
FIFA had hoped to turn its attention to the 2026 tournament after Friday’s election, but it’s unlikely that will now happen.
