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ZURICH (AP)—Sepp Blatter said rebuilding FIFA’s image would be his top priority if he is re-elected as president next week after a series of corruption allegations leveled at soccer’s ruling body.

Blatter told reporters of his firsthand experience of attempted bribery when he received a cash-filled envelope while FIFA secretary general before becoming president 13 years ago. He said he handed over the money to a FIFA colleague and it was returned to the unnamed bribe-giver.

He promised to tackle allegations of past corruption and strengthen FIFA’s panels that investigate alleged wrongdoing.

“We shall find a solution how to handle the past … in order that we can stop forever in the future all these damaging things about corruption,” Blatter said.

“We have to make sure that in the next term of office immediately starting after the election that we rebuild the image of FIFA,” said the 75-year-old Swiss, who joined soccer’s governing body in 1975.

Blatter pledged “there will be facts” revealed in his zero-tolerance project being presented to the FIFA Congress on June 1, immediately before his election contest against former ally Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar.

Their campaign has been clouded by fresh allegations of World Cup bid corruption.

Bin Hammam’s native Qatar has been accused in England of bribing two FIFA executive committee members to help secure 2022 hosting rights.

Blatter, who wants the case resolved before election day, said it hurt him that people believed FIFA was corrupt.

His first presidential election in 1998 prompted allegations of vote-buying by his supporters in Paris, and some high-ranking colleagues have been linked to corruption scandals on his watch.

Senior FIFA officials have been accused of taking kickbacks from television rights deals, profiting from World Cup tickets sales and pocketing or seeking bribes to vote for World Cup hosts.

Though retrospective disciplinary action is unlikely, Blatter said he wants to improve FIFA’s ability to investigate internal affairs.

“For the future we must have, I would say, a stronger organization,” he said at a briefing at FIFA headquarters.

Responsibility for choosing leaders of FIFA’s ethics, disciplinary and appeal committees could be given to members at Congress, Blatter suggested. Currently, power to appoint the investigative positions lies with FIFA’s 24-member executive committee, which has been severely discredited.

Blatter acknowledged that some people “do not deserve to be … in the government of FIFA.”

He distanced himself from the continental bodies who elect their delegates to the ruling panel he chairs.

“They have their own agenda. I have no influence and I cannot take any responsibility,” said Blatter, lamenting that he erred in “trusting people too fast.”

Blatter said he was only once offered a bribe, during his 1981-98 stint serving as chief administrator to then-president Joao Havelange.

“In this envelope there was an amount of money. I couldn’t refuse because he put it in my pocket,” said Blatter, declining to identify who made the offer. “I came home here to FIFA and gave it to the finance director and he put this money on the account of the Swiss Bank Corporation.”

The cash, which Blatter has said amounted to 50,000 Swiss francs, was later withdrawn by the bribe-giver.

Labels: Blatter, FIFAs, image, pledges, restore

Rumours were rife in Edinburgh that Riordan and manager Colin Calderwood did not see eye to eye and that the player would seek to leave when his current agreement expires in the summer. He was at pains to point out that the opposite is the case.

“I’m happy at Hibs, I enjoy it, I’m from Edinburgh and I support Hibs so it’s good for me,” he said.

“Hopefully, I can stay on beyond the end of the season, I want to stay at Hibs throughout my career but that will need to happen at the end of the season.

“I have had wee talks with the manager - I think everybody has - but they said they would decide later on. I’m happy playing football.”

Riordan also publicly backed Calderwood, who had left him out of the starting line-up for the three previous games, and insisted there is no bad blood between them.

“I’m glad for the gaffer, obviously,” he said. “He has been through a tough time since he has come in.

“But he’s got the players in he wants now, and we have got that first win so it has obviously worked.

“You want to do well for him because he is such a brilliant guy, one of the nicest managers I’ve had.

“Everyone gets on really well with him, he is a really nice guy and you don’t want to see bad results go against him.

“I was really happy for him after this win: it means he can have a good weekend and we can all look forward to next week.”

Riordan looked drained after claiming his first win bonus in 13 matches, and he conceded that joy was not the prominent emotion when the final whistle blew.

“It was a sense of relief, to be honest,” he said. “It was a good feeling at the end of the match.

“We knew this was a big game for us at the bottom of the table and it has pushed us up the league a bit.

“I think we had gone something like eleven hours without scoring a goal so now we have got those goals I’m hoping more will come along.

“It’s important we build on this now. We want to stay in the SPL: that’s our aim.

“Given the run we have been on and the fact we are down there people were saying we were relegation candidates.

“We’ve got to get points on the board now. We have won an important game and we need to carry that on.”

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