Status Of FIFA Presidential Election Unknown

The status of the FIFA presidential election, which was set for Friday, is up in the air. Several factions are reportedly fighting about whether or not the election should be postponed following the arrest of some senior FIFA officials on Wednesday. FIFA, the body that oversees international soccer, is in hot water after investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed major levels of corruption within the organization.

Among those calling for postponement of the FIFA presidential election are Union of European Football Associations, the governing body in Europe, and Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin al-Hussain, who is one of the candidates for the presidential position. Both hinted that they might boycott the FIFA Congress this year.

Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation, the governing body in Asia, has stated that it wants the FIFA presidential election to proceed as planned.

Others, like the England’s Football Association, have called on current FIFA President Sepp Blatter to resign, while the Brazil Football Confederation confirmed it is backing the investigation into the corruption scandal as one of the persons involved, Jose Maria Marin, is a soccer official in its federation.

"Sepp Blatter has to go as FIFA president," Greg Dyke, chairman of England’s governing body for the sport, said in a statement. The 79-year-old Blatter is seeking re-election and has been the FIFA president since 1998. Blatter has been with FIFA since 1975 and acted as secretary general for 17 years.