Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has announced that he will resign, just days after being re-elected for a fifth term. The resignation comes under mounting pressure for him to step down after the U.S. Department of Justice arrested top FIFA executives on corruption charges last week.

Blatter called an unexpected press conference at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich. He said that he will call for an “Extraordinary Congress” to meet before the regularly scheduled FIFA congress on May 13, 2016 in Mexico City to elect a new president. Until that election, Blatter will continue serving as president.

“I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the forty years in which my life has been inextricably bound to FIFA and the great sport of football,” Blatter said. “I cherish FIFA more than anything and I want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football. I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is over but FIFA’s challenges are not. FIFA needs a profound overhaul.”

Blatter stressed that he will not be a candidate during the special election. He claimed that before the election he will finally try to work on reforms within the organization to stop corruption. Essentially, he’s finally going to do something because he has nothing to lose.

Blatter called for a shrinking of the Executive Committee and term limits on the office of president and Executive Committee members. He has also sought the help of Domenico Scala to help put in place the reforms.

“It is my deep care for FIFA and its interests, which I hold very dear, that has led me to take this decision,” Blatter concluded. “I would like to thank those who have always supported me in a constructive and loyal manner as President of FIFA and who have done so much for the game that we all love. What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department arrested 14 former and current FIFA executives in Switzerland on corruption charges, alleging that they accepted bribes worth a combined $150 million over two decades. Despite that, Blatter was overwhelmingly re-elected on Friday.

FIFA’s first big event in the wake of the scandal is the Women’s World Cup in Canada, which begins this weekend. The next Men’s World Cup is in Russia in 2018.

image courtesy of INFphoto.com