Deposed FIFA president Sepp Blatter: 'I've finished my work in football'

FIFA's deposed president Sepp Blatter has had a rough 2015.

The Swiss-born FIFA executive won re-election in the summer and proudly proclaimed his love for both the organisation and the sport; then, it all fell apart, as FIFA was gripped in scandal as dozens were charged with corruption and racketeering. Blatter resigned. His health deteriorated. He returned, only to be banned by FIFA's ethics committee. And now, he says, he's had enough.

"I've finished my work in football," Blatter told The Wall Street Journal. "I lost faith in our organisation on May 27 with this intervention by American law enforcement. And the same day it presented FIFA as a mafia-type organisation."

On May 27, several high-profile FIFA executives were placed under arrest by Swiss authorities and processed for extradition to the U.S. on charges of corruption. In the weeks and months that followed, FIFA and Blatter were heavily scrutinised as new allegations were brought to the surface.

The U.S. Department of Justice later charged high-ranking officials in the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL regions, including Chuck Blazer and Jack Warner, two men who Blatter said he thought were "wonderful people."

But, for Blatter, their alleged corrupt behaviour does not reflect on him or on FIFA.

"It's the philosophy of North and South America in the way they organise soccer, but these are not FIFA activities," Blatter said. "These are confederation activities over which we have no control."

And, as such, the eight-year ban he and UEFA president Michel Platini received this week comes as a bitter pill to swallow.

"This is nonsense," Blatter said. "According to Swiss law, to suspend someone for eight years, you must have committed a murder or a bank robbery."

While Blatter and Platini haven't been charged with either of those crimes, the severity of their suspension by FIFA's ethics committee comes as a result of the timeline of events; there are charges spanning the last 20 years. Specifically, it is alleged that Platini was paid roughly $2 million in 2011 for what the Frenchman says was a handshake deal for advisory work back in 1998 and 2002.

The details remain murky, as ever, and sponsors like Coca-Cola, Adidas, McDonalds, and many others have had enough as well: Each spoke out regarding Blatter, calling for his resignation from FIFA - which he obliged in June - threatening to pull support otherwise. But Blatter says those were never anything more than idle threats.

"Companies, commercial partners are queuing up to get in," Blatter said. "If the Americans want to leave, others will come. But they don't want to get out. They won't leave."

A new FIFA president will be elected on Feb. 26 as the organisation undergoes wide-sweeping reform. Blatter has been FIFA's president since 1998.

"I spent 40 years at FIFA," Blatter said. "It doesn't bother me to talk about the past, because the past was more brilliant for me than the future."