Vengeful Blatter guns for opposition

FIFA president Sepp Blatter says his general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen will be sacked tomorrow.

Zen-Ruffinen is on the World Cup organising committee which was expected to earn him a stay of execution after he tried to expose corruption in FIFA's highest ranks but Blatter is gunning for the administrator already.

Zen-Ruffinen's deputy Jon Doviken is also facing the sack.

"Friday, I throw Zen-Ruffinen out the door," Blatter told Swiss newspaper 'Blick'.

"On Friday the executive committee is going to take care of 'Mr Clean'. Now it is finished. The last negative comments by Zen-Ruffinen after my re-election were the last straw."

Zen-Ruffinen said he would fight on against corruption in FIFA despite the vote to re-elect president Sepp Blatter for four more years in office but Blatter is set to dump the Swiss lawyer as soon as possible.

A defiant Zen-Ruffinen was expected to quit rather than suffer Blatter's revenge after he openly questioned the president over claims of corruption, secret deals and financial mismanagement at the last FIFA executive committee meeting.

His evidence of corruption saw five FIFA vice-presidents start legal action against Blatter in a Swiss court with criminal charges possibly pending.

"I won't resign," Zen-Ruffinen said.

"Certainly not - why should I ?," after Blatter easily defeated his only rival for the presidency in a marathon eight-hour voting session yesterday.

The secretary-general expected to be axed soon as Blatter starts a bloody purge of his opponents who dared to expose corruption.

"I always knew that if Mr Blatter won then I would be in trouble," he said.

Blatter confirmed Zen-Ruffinen is his first target for revenge:

"He's in trouble ? he said to one of your colleagues - and he is in trouble," he said.

"For the time being he is still here. I have said give me 100 days to present the structural changes in FIFA that I envisage. We will discuss changes at the next FIFA executive committee. There won't be any changes before then."

"He's going to find it very difficult to re-unify this divided family," Zen-Ruffinen said with the powerful and financially well-off UEFA group considering their next move to safeguard European football from Blatter's plans.

Zen-Ruffinen said the money rows over the FIFA finances would continue after vice-president David Will claimed earlier this week that the organisation was £251 million in debt.

Will now also faces punishment from Blatter and his supporters.

"Nobody can agree on the figures so that dispute is going to continue and the people on the executive committee who lost today are going to carry on the fight," Zen-Ruffinen said.