Coca-Cola, Visa and Anheuser-Busch all called publicly on Friday for Blatter to immediately resign his post atop FIFA, the disgraced governing body of world soccer.
A statement released by Coca-Cola said Blatter should quit "for the benefit of the game."
A statement released by McDonald`s called for Blatter to "step down immediately so that the reform process can proceed with the credibility that is needed."
A statement released by Anheuser-Busch InBev said the company "believes it would be appropriate for Mr. Blatter to step down as we believe his continued presence to be an obstacle in the reform process. We strongly support the call for an independent reform process."
Calls for Blatter`s resignation intensified in May after 14 soccer officials were indicted in a U.S. Justice Department-led raid in Zurich, Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered. A large-scale corruption investigation of the body is still underway.
Many have said for years that Blatter should vacate FIFA`s top spot, however. The organization has long been mired in rumors of malfeasance. While the value of broadcasting and sponsorship rights for events like the World Cup have skyrocketed over the past couple decades, so too have allegations of greedy-eyed wrongdoing within FIFA.
Blatter himself was not directly tied — at least not publicly — to that recent Department of Justice raid, however. That enabled him to maintain his own innocence and declare that he`d remain president until a special election next year.
Through all that, major FIFA sponsors did not apply public pressure for Blatter to step down. So what changed?
Neither Coca-Cola, Visa nor Anheuser-Busch mentioned it explicitly in their statements, but the office of Switzerland`s attorney general announced late last week that it had opened its own criminal proceedings against Blatter.
Then this Friday came sponsors` calls for Blatter`s head. But Blatter, true to form, does not appear ready to quit now. Not without a fight, at least.
“Mr. Blatter respectfully disagrees with its position and believes firmly that his leaving office now would not be in the best interest of FIFA nor would it advance the process of reform and therefore, he will not resign,” Richard Cullen, a lawyer for Blatter, said in a statement released Friday.
And so the game continues — Blatter remaining obstinate amid a growing consensus asking that he step down for the good of the sport. One gets the feeling, however, that Blatter can only continue playing this game for so long.
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