Sepp Blatter resigned as president of FIFA on Tuesday, only four days after his re-election to serve a fifth term.
"While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football — the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA. Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA President until that election," he said.
"An extraordinary congress is to be called to elect my successor as soon as possible," said the 79-year-old Swiss official, FIFA president for 17 years.
Chairman of the FIFA Audit and Compliance Committee Domenico Scala said an extraordinary congress to elect a new FIFA president would most likely be held between December 2015 and March 2016. Prince Ali Bin Hussein, who was Blatter's rival during the first round of the Friday vote, will stand in the new elections, a FIFA official said.
"FIFA is determined to address the issues that are afflicting FIFA. We want to fundamentally reform the way in which people see FIFA," Scala said.
Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term of office by the 65th FIFA Congress in Zurich on May 29.
Just two days prior, on May 27, seven FIFA officials were arrested on a US federal corruption warrant.
At the same time, Switzerland launched an investigation into the selection process of World Cup host countries in 2018 and 2022, Russia and Qatar respectively.
A source familiar with the situation told R-Sport news agency that the arrests of the FIFA officials were linked to Qatar's bids for the 2022 championship and to an extent pertained to Russia's bid for 2018.
On June 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow continued to support Blatter's presidency of FIFA.
