The two companies joined fellow FIFA partners Coca-Cola and
Adidas in expressing disquiet at the recent wave of corruption allegations,
which have included claims of bribery in the presidential election campaign and
in last year's World Cup vote.
"The current situation is not good for the game and we
ask that FIFA take all necessary steps to resolve the concerns that have been
raised," Visa Europe said in a statement that means four of FIFA's six
major sponsors have now expressed worries about the current situation.
That situation has been widely referred to as the worst
crisis the game has faced but Blatter, the 75-year-old Swiss who has run soccer's
world governing body since 1998, has been downplaying the problem as he
prepares to be voted in for a final four-year term at FIFA's Congress on
Wednesday.
"Crisis? Where is the crisis?” Blatter asked reporters
in a bad-tempered news conference on Monday.
English soccer's governing body, the FA, responded to that
appearance by asking other nations to join it in seeking to delay the vote and
provide an opportunity for another candidate to stand against the incumbent.
Scotland backed up the English stance but many federations
asked for their response, including the United States, declined to comment.
The only way Blatter will not be re-elected on Wednesday is
if the FIFA Congress proposes and passes a motion to call off the vote with the
support of 75 percent of voting delegates.
That is unlikely to happen as while Blatter may not be able
to connect with fans, he is highly skilled at talking to the only audience that
really matters to his future — the voting delegates at the Congress.
Since Blatter became president in 1998 the governing body
has grown rich thanks to its ability to generate billions of dollars from
television rights to major tournaments as well as sponsorship deals with major
corporations.
Not all of them are happy, but none has issued a public
ultimatum demanding change.
Emirates airline expressed its concern saying it was
"disappointed with the issues that are currently surrounding the administration
of the sport.”
Earlier, Coca-Cola said the allegations of corruption were
"distressing and bad for the sport.” German sportswear maker Adidas also
said the controversy had hurt soccer.
Visa's call for FIFA to take "all necessary steps"
stopped short of calling for any specific action.
The reason for all the concern from fans, officials,
national associations, governments and now sponsors is clear.
In the space of a few days, Qatar has been tainted by
suggestions it bought the 2022 World Cup; the head of Asian soccer Mohamed bin
Hammam and CONCACAF chief Jack Warner have been suspended over bribery
allegations; and Bin Hammam withdrew from Wednesday's FIFA presidential race,
leaving Blatter to run unopposed.
FIFA's general secretary Jerome Valcke has since said he did
not mean to suggest Qatar had used bribes to get the World Cup, Qatar has
flatly denied any wrongdoing, Bin Hammam has launched an appeal against his
provisional suspension and Warner called the ethics committee hearing a
kangaroo court.
As FIFA's current "difficulties,” as Blatter called
them, have moved from the back page to the front, calls for reform from outside
the sport have been getting louder.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said
FIFA should allow an external inquiry.
"They should postpone the election and really clear up
everything, take some time and then hold a new election," Sylvia Schenk,
sports adviser for the Berlin-based watchdog, told Reuters.
Australian Les Murray, who sits on the global soccer
governing body's 13-man ethics committee, called for "complete
structural" reform at FIFA, while Brazil's 1970 World Cup-winning captain
Carlos Alberto Torres led calls for reform from the sport's most successful
country.
"There should be a general change, there are so many
good people who could take office," Carlos Alberto told Reuters.
"I think there should be new people in command of the
bodies," he said in a telephone interview. "With the same people
staying (in power) so long there is a vicious circle."
