I regret not leaving FIFA earlier – Sepp Blatter

Disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, has admitted that he regretted not stepping down earlier.

Blatter was forced out as head of world football’s governing body amid a corruption scandal in 2015.

The 81-year-old was banned over ethics breaches, following a suspect two million Swiss franc ($2 million, 1.8 million euro) payment to ex-UEFA president, Michel Platini.

It brought an end to this 17-year regin as FIFA chief.

“I should have stopped myself earlier,” Blatter said in an interview published by Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick, adding that his ousting as FIFA boss was “a relief”.

He also recalled that the editor-in-chief of a Swiss magazine, warned him that the role of FIFA president had an expiration date.

“‘At your place the date is 2014’, he told me, and I said to him that sometimes it’s written that the product can be consumed beyond this date if it’s stored in a cool place,” Blatter added.