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FIFA elections are on Friday, as usual Blatter is expected to win, having African nations and other votes in the bag.

Recently Luis Figo and Michael van Praag (Dutch FA chairman) withdrew their candidacy to give all their votes to Jordan's Prince Ali to perhaps defeat Blatter but it won't happen.

What just happened though is not good news at all, for Blatter and FIFA in general:
CNN Breaking News @cnnbrk
U.S. to announce corruption charges against senior officials at FIFA, world's soccer governing body, officials say.

Swiss authorities have arrested several top FIFA officials on federal corruption charges in Zurich and plan to extradite them to the United States, according to reports.
The New York Times says that more than a dozen plain-clothed Swiss law enforcement officials arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel in the early hours of Wednesday morning as leaders of FIFA gathered for their annual meeting.

Interesting....

There was a good segment on the One World Sports podcast last week which dealt with corruption in FIFA. It's quite the tangled web to say the least. So tangled that it doesn't appear that it will change anytime soon..

Jeffrey Webb: current FIFA vice-president
Jack Warner: former FIFA vice-president
Eduardo Li: Costa Rican federation president
Julio Rocha: current FIFA development officer
Costas Takkas: current attaché to the Concacaf president.
Eugenio Figueredo: current FIFA vice-president
Rafael Esquivel: current Conmebol executive committee member
José Maria Marin: current member of the FIFA organising committee for the Olympic football tournaments
Nicolás Leoz: former FIFA executive committee member and Conmebol president.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice said those held were being investigated “on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day”, totalling “more than $100m”

What's ironic though is Platini asking Blatter to step down and give room to new ideas, and possibly hinting at those corruption investigations...

I never actually heard of Prince Ali.. but FIFA is at a stage where every change is a welcome change

This is the best thing that has happened in a long time for football. I love it! every hour there is a new can of worm that opens up. Hopefully this will ensure a good future for football.

UEFA president Michel Platini: I asked Sepp Blatter to stand down

Michel Platini, the president of European football's governing body, urged under-fire FIFA president Sepp Blatter to stand down when the pair met on Thursday.

Blatter is overseeing a crisis at FIFA amid fresh corruption allegations emerging from separate inquiries by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss government.

However, the 79-year-old has refused to quit and still intends to stand against Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in Friday's presidential vote.

"I have had enough -- enough is enough, too much is too much. I am the first to be disgusted," Platini told a news conference. "I told Mr Blatter 'we started together and now I am asking you to step down as we cannot continue this way.'

"He told me 'It's too late, I can't today all of sudden leave when Congress starts this afternoon.'''

Platini also said he was convinced Prince Ali could win, adding: "A very, very big majority of UEFA associations will vote for Prince Ali -- a minimum of 45 or 46 [out of 53], and I try to convince more.''

The UEFA chief warned, however, that Blatter's decision to stay meant his support is still daunting, but that there was now more democracy with confederations not voting en bloc.

"If he has decided to stay on, it means he is still strong,'' he said. "But there's a renewal of democracy in the African zone to vote freely. As I said to Europe, vote freely -- but vote for Prince Ali.''

When asked if a boycott of FIFA competitions was a possibility if Blatter wins, Platini replied: "UEFA associations will meet in Berlin next week. We will be open to all options."

Pressed further on the prospect of a World Cup boycott, Platini added: "There may be proposals. I honestly don't wish that."

http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/stor...stand-down

Followed this story on and off (due to work), but basically and interesting turn of events. It'll be interesting to see how things play out over the next couple of years.

133 - 73 for Blatter, second round would be needed when 2/3 (139) is not reached but Prince Ali withdrew knowing he doesn't have any more votes.