Blatter promises telling reforms at Fifa

(GETTY IMAGES)

Sepp Blatter has admitted Fifa made "horrific" mistakes as football's governing body became dogged by consistent allegations of corruption over the last year. In a speech in Zurich today Blatter, Fifa's president, will defend the steps being taken towards reform and promise they will deliver telling change.

Last month Blatter announced a number of reforms and promised that controversial court documents giving details of alleged bribes paid to Fifa officials would be released. But a confused presentation led to a confused message and Blatter has sought to clarify Fifa's intent in an attempt to prove the seriousness of the proposed reform.

"Fifa's last 100 days were among the most difficult in its over 100-year history," Blatter, who will today address 200 football figures at the International Football Arena conference, told the website insideworldfootball.biz.

"We have to live with our own reality, namely the fact that mistakes were made, some of them horrific. It takes time to shake the tree until all bad apples have fallen to the ground. Even if some of them refuse to fall at first."

At next month's meeting of the Executive Committee in Tokyo further details of the reforms will be announced. Blatter has also now underlined his promise that the papers about ISL, a marketing company working for Fifa that collapsed with huge debts, will be made public then.

"What I want to make quite clear is that by December we shall present further facts, this time with names attached, on how we want to tackle the necessary changes in the governance of world football," said Blatter. "We shall seek to remedy past ills lastingly and offer solutions that bite and important improvements that take effect without further ado. We owe the global public the type of transparency that we have not practised in all areas in the past. That was wrong."

A Swiss court document is said to disclose details of alleged bribes paid to Fifa officials, including executive committee member Nicolas Leoz.

A BBC Panorama programme last year also alleged the man in charge of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Ricardo Teixeira, his father-in-law Joao Havelange, and executive committee member Issa Hayatou, all accepted bribes from ISL. Leoz, Havelange, Hayatou and Teixeira deny the allegations.