Scandal brought shame and humiliation to football: Blatter

May 28, 2015 21:54 IST

‘I cannot monitor everyone all the time'

'If people want to do wrong they will also try to hide it’

President Joseph S. Blatter

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter speaks during the 65th FIFA Congress Opening Ceremony. Photograph: Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images

Embattled FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Thursday the corruption scandal surrounding the world soccer body had brought shame and humiliation to football.

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In a defiant speech at the opening of a FIFA Congress in Zurich at which he expects to be re-elected president for a fifth term, Blatter said there could be no place for corruption of any kind in the game.

Seeking to distance himself from the scandal in which seven senior FIFA figures have been arrested in Switzerland on US corruption charges, he said: "I cannot monitor everyone all the time. If people want to do wrong they will also try to hide it."

He added that FIFA had lost trust and must earn it back, starting on Friday. More needed to be done to make sure everyone in football behaves responsibly and ethically.

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