Sepp Blatter Resignation Not Forced by United States: Official
Sepp Blatter announced his shock resgination as FIFA president on Monday
A US official on Tuesday denied that Washington had had any hand in Sepp Blatter's shock decision to resign as president of FIFA. (Complete resignation statement)
Asked if the United States had pushed Blatter out of world football's governing body, the State Department's senior advisor for strategic communications, Marie Harf, laughed and shot back: "No." (FIFA scandal deepens)
"The United States government does not have a position on who the president of FIFA is," Harf told reporters. (Platini's UEFA and Blatter's FIFA - Two squabbling lovers)
The 79-year-old Blatter had faced increasing calls to step aside after the US Department of Justice last week levelled accusations of "rampant, systemic and deep-rooted corruption" against some of the sport's leading officials. (Will not forget what UEFA did against me: Sepp Blatter)
A total of 14 officials and marketing executives have been accused by US investigators of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. (Blatter shocked by United States' anti-corruption tactics campaign)
Blatter himself had not been implicated, but seven officials were arrested in a dawn raid on a Zurich hotel on Wednesday, accused of taking more than $150 million in bribes.