FA official quits FIFA role in Blatter protest

One of the English Football Association's two independent directors has resigned from FIFA's anti-discrimination task force following Sepp Blatter's re-election as president of world football's global governing body.

Heather Rabbatts said the corruption crisis engulfing FIFA was "disastrous" for its reputation and added it was "unacceptable" that so little reform of the organisation had taken place.

Rabbatts had been a member of FIFA's anti-discrimination task force chaired by Jeffrey Webb, the FIFA vice-president from the Cayman Islands who was one of the seven FIFA officials arrested in Zurich on corruption charges last week.

In her resignation letter to FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, a copy of which was published by Britain's national Press Association agency, Rabbatts said: "I am withdrawing with immediate effect from the FIFA task force against racism and discrimination.

"My willingness to play a part in the development of policies in this area is outweighed by the disastrous effect on FIFA's reputation of recent events."

She added: "Like many in the game I find it unacceptable that so little has been done to reform FIFA and it is clear from the re-election of President Blatter that the challenges facing FIFA and the ongoing damage to the reputation of football's world governing body are bound to continue to overshadow and undermine the credibility of any work in the anti-discrimination arena and beyond."

Rabbatts also said she would have written to Webb to tell him about her resignation "but as I understand he is currently not available, I am therefore sending this to you in your capacity as secretary general."

As well as the arrest of seven FIFA officials, 18 other people connected to football were indicted on corruption charges by the US Department of Justice.
Source: AFP