Sepp Blatter was set to make his final arguments for re-election as president of FIFA on Thursday, one day after several of his top lieutenants were arrested in a corruption investigation led by the United States Justice Department.
Mr. Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term as FIFA president, was scheduled to speak at the opening of the FIFA Congress in Zurich. It will be his first public comments since the Swiss police — at the request of American authorities — arrested a group of senior soccer officials at their hotel early Wednesday.
The remarks will also give Mr.