Sepp Blatter to release memoir

Disgraced Fifa president Sepp Blatter is releasing a memoir called Sepp Blatter: Mission Football through Swiss publisher Werd & Weber.

The book chronicling Blatter's 40-year career at Fifa will be released before the end of this month, priced £35 (39 Swiss francs/ US$39), according to the London Evening Standard. It has been written by his spokesman Thomas Renggli, and will be 300 pages long in hardcover.

Blatter's reign as head of Fifa was marked by scandal amid allegations of corruption at Fifa for which he was criminally investigated. Although he was cleared of corruption charges, he was later found to have breached ethics over a conflict of interest involving a "disloyal payment" made to Uefa president Michel Platini in 2011. Yesterday (24th February), both Blatter and Platini had their bans upheld by the appeals committee, but the suspensions were reduced from eight to six years.

The publisher's preview said: “Despite the success, Blatter repeatedly had to put up with harsh reviews and prejudices. In this richly illustrated book, Sepp Blatter tells how he learned to deal with the hostility.”

Renggli told The Associated Press on yesterday (23rd February) that the book will include the result of Friday’s Fifa presidential election naming Blatter's successor. Blatter announced he would be stepping down as president after 18 years in the role in June of last year. 

A spokesperson for the publishers told Press Association Sport that the book was "his very own opinion on his time at Fifa" and "a very personal book, not judicially edited or sanitised at all”.

The book's publishers have not yet responded to an enquiry from The Bookseller about whether UK rights for the book have been sold.