Tuesday 22 December 2015 11:15, UK
Sepp Blatter goes down fighting after his suspension and Sky Sports News HQ's Gemma Davies was in Zurich to witness the latest FIFA circus.
All the signs of defiance were there. Fronting up to the media in the immediacy of being banned from football, steely opening remarks protesting his innocence, and a parting shot of "I'll be back".
But for Sepp Blatter, it is actually looking like the end.
There was the usual media scrum awaiting Blatter's arrival in Zurich on Monday. With news of his eight-year ban breaking before 10am local time, journalists surrounded the entrance of FIFA's former headquarters waiting for a frail-looking old man to face the inevitable questions.
Shouts of "Is this the end Sepp?" and the familiar scramble to get through the cameras ensued.
What followed was extraordinary. Blatter's news conference opened with a statement lasting 18 minutes. To some extent, the questions that followed were irrelevant. Blatter's demeanour in that opening period said it all.
The 79-year-old was unshaven, frustrated and demonstrative. He was in a conference centre that used to be FIFA's offices - Blatter couldn't use FIFA's headquarters to address the media because he's banned from entering them.
Everything about it represented a man outside of his comfort zone.
Unsurprisingly, Blatter denied any wrongdoing throughout, but to the slight bemusement of the gathered media he insisted he was still president. He maintains only FIFA Congress can relieve him of that post.
For the journalists that have followed the Sepp Blatter saga you'd imagine nothing surprises them, but this man is a reporter's dream - the gift that keeps on giving.
FIFA news conferences have been busy affairs since the arrests in May, but they're usually policed tightly.
On Monday Blatter spoke for 51 minutes and then talked separately to other journalists before his representatives insisted he was 'too tired' to do anymore, and is it any wonder?
This ordeal would be stressful for anybody to deal with; but for an old man with his reputation in tatters, this has clearly taken its toll.
One of the quotes that stands out was Blatter referring to himself as the 'punching ball' of football.
He said he was sorry - sorry for being that punching ball, and sorry for football. I think most people in that room knew he meant "I feel sorry for myself". I wonder how many people agree?
