Time for Blatter to go, says Australian former FIFA official

FIFA President Sepp Blatter gestures as he attends a news conference after a meeting of the FIFA executive committee in Zurich in this September 26, 2014 file picture. [Photo/Agencies]

SYDNEY - Australian Les Murray, a former member of FIFA's Ethics Committee, says it is time for Sepp Blatter's long reign as president of soccer's governing body to come to an end, even if there is no evidence the Swiss is personally corrupt.

FIFA was plunged into crisis on Wednesday, two days before Blatter stands for re-election for a fifth term, when Swiss police arrested seven officials in Zurich at the request of United States authorities for alleged corruption.

Australia has a particular grievance surrounding the controversial awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, which is now the subject of a Swiss Attorney General probe into corruption, after its government-funded bid won only one vote.

Football Federation Australia (FFA), whose chief executive David Gallop and chairman Frank Lowy are travelling to Zurich for the FIFA congress, has yet to make public its position on Wednesday's dramatic events.

"The Australian delegation will review the developments involving Swiss and US law enforcement authorities over the conduct of FIFA officials," it said in a brief statement.

Murray, a TV commentator, served on the Ethics Committee from 2006 to 2013 and has long been a strong advocate for wholesale reform at FIFA.

Writing in a post on SBS TV's website, he said he expected Blatter to be re-elected if the ballot went ahead as scheduled on Friday but thought it would be better for the game if he did not.

"Despite the long-running innuendo and the stench of corruption hovering over FIFA's highest offices there has never been any hard evidence put forward that Blatter himself is corrupt or that he ever took a bribe," he wrote.