8 Mar 2012

European committee calls for Blatter probe

7:46 am on 8 March 2012

A Council of Europe committee has called for FIFA president Sepp Blatter to be investigated over his uncontested victory in last year's FIFA presidential election.

A committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe says further light should be shone on Blatter's election success, which came after his sole rival, Mohamed bin Hammam, dropped out of the race due to bribery allegations.

Bin Hammam was later banned from the sport for life, after being found guilty by FIFA's Ethics Committee of trying to buy votes from Caribbean football officials.

The European Committee is urging FIFA to start an internal investigation into what it regards as one of various scandals which have tarnished FIFA's image.