Defiant Fifa president Sepp Blatter tonight insisted that football was not in crisis and said there was "no issue" over the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
Blatter said: 'I regret what has happened. In the days and weeks, great damage to the image of FIFA. There is disappointment for the football fans. I am speaking to the football fans.'
This is a scandal at the very top of football's world governing body, in global public view, about bribes allegedly being paid in return for votes to elect the president, and to award the 2022 World cup. The charges have followed other corruption allegations made or heard against eight of the 24 Fifa executive committee.
Blatter and Bin Hammam's cases bring that figure to 10. The allegation of corruption at Fifa has expanded very rapidly from a charge made by specialist journalists, such as the author and BBC Panorama reporter Andrew Jennings, to a defining public perception of the organisation.
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