German football boss Wolfgang Niersbach says Sepp Blatter must go
Friday 5 June 2015 12:49, UK
The president of the influential German Football Federation, Wolfgang Niersbach, says a new FIFA president needs to be elected sooner rather than later.
Sepp Blatter stunned the sport this week when, just four days after being re-elected, he announced he will stand down.
His decision came in the wake of a series of arrests of FIFA officials past and present who face corruption allegations.
FIFA insists they need four months to set up an extraordinary congress to elect a new president. But Wolfgang Niersbach told German TV station ZDF: "For me it's incredible the way it happened.
“You (Sepp Blatter) invite the whole world to a congress, you get re-elected and then four days later you resign, for whatever reason, but it's not an immediate resignation.
“Everything needs to go much faster."
Niersbach also called FIFA's payment to Ireland over Thierry Henry's hand-ball "a joke".
Niersbach, a FIFA executive committee member, spoke out after the world governing body admitted paying the Football Association of Ireland 5m euros as compensation for the infamous Henry hand-ball in a World Cup play-off.
The FIFA payment, initially a loan, was agreed in return for the FAI not taking the case to court. Had Ireland qualified for the 2014 finals they would have had to pay the money back.
Niersbach told German television station ZDF: "It is a joke that they paid this money out to stop the Irish taking them in front of court."
France beat Ireland in the 2009 play-off 2-1 on aggregate - with France's extra-time decider in the second leg owing much to an Henry hand-ball in the build-up - which led to the FAI threatening legal action after missing out on the 2010 World Cup.
