EUROPE – A scandal-hit football association has vowed to press on with its annual congress.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has cancelled speaking engagements in Zurich as he avoids appearing in public for a second day.
The embattled boss of the global sports organisation is under pressure not to seek re-election as president at the 65th Congress, due to open at 17.000 local time today.
A spokesman for FIFA said says Blatter will not give a scheduled speech to open Thursday’s session of a soccer medical conference in a Zurich hotel.
Blatter has already ducked two meetings of continental soccer organisations, which he was due to attend ahead of Friday’s annual congress of FIFA’s 209 member federations.
The FIFA president was expected to attend a UEFA meeting scheduled 12:30 p.m. (10:30 GMT) today but UEFA leaders want to postpone the presidential election amid turmoil in world soccer after federal investigations by the United States and Swiss authorities hit FIFA on Wednesday.
According to the FIFA website, the 65th FIFA Congress will be officially kicked-off with the opening ceremony, which is set to take place at Zurich’s Theater 11 and will be streamed live on FIFA.com
The mains sessions of the congress are set to take place at the Hallenstadion in the city
Yolanda Humbel, head of marketing at the venue, said she had not been informed of changes to the itinerary.
She told CMW: “According to our information, the congress will be performed normally.”
