SFA's Regan: No regrets over FIFA stance

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has no regrets about opposing Sepp Blatter’s one-man FIFA presidential election.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has no regrets about opposing Sepp Blatter’s one-man FIFA presidential election.

He also claims he has no fears about repercussions for Scottish football following Blatter’s return to power for the next four years.

The SFA had publicly backed calls from their counterparts in England to delay the unopposed re-election of Blatter after his only rival, Mohamed Bin Hammam, withdrew before he was provisionally banned on bribery charges.

Regan’s proposal fell on deaf ears but he is confident there will be “no repercussions”.

“If I had done nothing and just kept my head down that certainly would have been the wrong thing to do,” he said. “Then I’d have been criticised for having no guts. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t have stood up on behalf of the SFA and voiced an opinion.

“If you have something to say then surely FIFA’s annual congress is the place to say it. I want the SFA to be about transparency after all.”

Regan added: “I did not attack Mr Blatter on a personal basis and I did not say he should not be president of FIFA.

“I simply said we should have an independent investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption and put some daylight between the election and a revised date for the vote.

“There will be no repercussions, just as there were none in 2007 when John McBeth, the then SFA president, queried Jack Warner’s conduct as FIFA vice-president.

“There are problems within FIFA and now the president has agreed to a solutions committee being set up with specialist advice from outside football.

“There is an ethics committee that will now be independent. And the World Cup venues will now be decided by all 208 members of congress instead of 24 individuals who could be open to approaches from interested parties.

“That’s all to the good of football and the result of robust debate.”

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