Sports
Blatter: I was close to death
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has revealed he was “close to death” during his recent battle with illness.
Blatter, 79, was taken into hospital earlier this month, having been implicated in the corruption scandal engulfing football’s world governing body earlier this year.
Swiss prosecutors have accused him of making a dishonest payment of £1.3 million to Uefa president Michel Platini.
The pair currently serving 90-day suspensions and had their appeals against their bans rejected on Wednesday.
Read also: FIFA reject Blatter’s, Platini’s appeals
On Saturday, Fifa then requested both men be punished after concluding their investigation into the case and Blatter says the stress of the situation has had a serious impact on his health.
“I was very close [to death],” he said. “I was among the angels singing and the devil with the fire. But it was the angels who sang.
“The pressure was enormous. If you are strong mentally, you can resist, but at some point the body says ‘no’, and here the body has reacted badly.”
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