Zurich---FIFA staff gave Sepp Blatter a standing ovation on Wednesday even as his resignation failed to quell a corruption storm that could yet touch world football's fallen leader.
About 400 staff at the FIFA headquarters applauded the 79-year-old Swiss official the day after Blatter announced he would step down.
"There was a long ovation lasting several minutes and Mr Blatter was very emotional," a FIFA spokesman told AFP.
However, later on Wednesday storm clouds gathered as testimony from disgraced former North American football supremo Chuck Blazer revealed that both the campaigns for the 1998 and 2010 World Cups had involved he and fellow FIFA executives taking bribes.
Blazer's testimony is a key plank in the US investigation against FIFA, which the federal court document describes as a "Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization."
The 70-year-old -- who is presently out on bail and being treated for rectal cancer -- has admitted to a raft of charges related to his leadership of the North and Central American soccer body CONCACAF and membership of FIFA's executive committee.
However, in order to get a lighter punishment he agreed to wear a microphone and record conversations with his fellow FIFA members.
In the papers released on Wednesday, the other FIFA executives identified as co-conspirators are not named.
"Among other things, I agreed with other persons in or around 1992 to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup," Blazer said in his plea.
The 1998 World Cup was eventually awarded to France, ahead of a bid by Morocco. Another court document, detailing the charges, says that Blazer was present when a co-conspirator accepted a bribe in Morocco.
Blazer goes on to accept that he and "others on the FIFA executive committee" agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa to host the World Cup in 2010.
South African officials have strongly denied allegations by US investigators that they paid $10 million in bribes to secure the rights to host the competition.
Central to the claims about South Africa is former FIFA vice-president and former head of CONCACAF Jack Warner, who was placed on Interpol's most wanted list on Wednesday.
The $10 million transfer went from the South African authorities to Warner, and was made through FIFA, although they say they were just the intermediary in the transaction.
AFP
