By Andrew Warshaw
November 3 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter will make one of his first appearances since announcing his anti-corruption drive when he takes centre stage at the International Football Arena (IFA) on Monday (November 7).
Blatter will make the keynote address to some 200 delegates from 28 countries when he makes the short hop from FIFA headquarters in Zurich to the Dolder Grand hotel where the IFA, for which insideworldfootball are media partners, takes place.
Blatter, who replaces his general secretary Jérôme Valcke at the high-profile two-day conference – Valcke is unable to attend because of other commitments – leads a galaxy of movers and shakers to discuss football’s burning issues.
Shortly after his address was confirmed, Blatter tweeted the following: “Speaking at IFA in Zurich on Monday, stressing again governance, zero-tolerance and transparency.”
His appearance is a major coup for IFA organisers and is bound to create considerable interest at the invitation-only event that has become one of the most significant draws in the football business calendar.
Two weeks ago, Blatter unveiled an unprecedented “road map to reform” to help football’s battered world governing body get back on its feet.
Promising to work for “transparency and independence”, he announced a radical politics-style timetable to be implemented between now and June 2013 which, he hopes, will conclude with FIFA finally being cleansed of corruption, with its credibility restored.
Since the reforms were made public, FIFA announced that 10 more Caribbean officials are to be investigated for their roles in the cash-for-votes scandal that led to former Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam being banned for life and FIFA’s most senior vice president Jack Warner resigning.
Blatter’s IFA appearance will represent the first opportunity for him to publically explain in more detail how the new clean-up campaign will work and to outline what he hopes to achieve during the last four years of his rollercoaster Presidency.
IFA Zurich 2011 takes place on November 7 and 8 at the Dolder Grand Hotel, Zurich.
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