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56 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2015 FOOTBALL BOXING 'Sponsor pressure a game-changer' Football Association chairman Greg Dyke believes Sepp Blatter must stand down immediately as FIFA president after four major sponsors demanded his exit IN what appeared an orches- trated action, Coca-Cola, Visa, Budweiser and McDonald's all issued statements saying Blatter should resign immediately after a week which has seen criminal proceedings opened against him in Switzerland. Blatter's immediate response was to insist that he is staying in office until February but the ac- tion of such high-profile sponsors will crank up the pressure on the 79-year-old to an intense degree. Dyke told Press Association Sport: "I think this is a game- changer. It doesn't matter what Mr Blatter says now - if the people who pay for FIFA want a change they will get a change. "What is important is that it isn't just about Mr Blatter stand- ing down - it's about making sure there is a comprehensive and ef- fective reform programme. So for those of us who want fundamen- tal change this is good news." Coca-Cola, one of FIFA's oldest sponsors, took the first step, say- ing: "For the benefit of the game, the Coca-Cola Company is call- ing for FIFA president Joseph Blatter to step down immediately so that a credible and sustainable reform process can begin in ear- nest. "Every day that passes, the image and reputation of FIFA continues to tarnish. FIFA needs compre- hensive and urgent reform, and that can only be accomplished through a truly independent ap- proach." McDonald's added: "The events of recent weeks have continued to diminish the reputation of FIFA and public confidence in its leadership." Visa said: "Given the events of the last week, it is clear it would be in the best interests of FIFA and the sport for Sepp Blatter to step down immediately." Blatter is suspected of crimi- nal mismanagement or misap- propriation over a TV rights deal he signed with former Caribbean football chief Jack Warner in 2005. He is also suspected of "a disloy- al payment" in 2011 of two mil- lion Swiss francs (#1.35million on current exchange rates) to current UEFA president and FIFA presidential candidate Michel Platini for work apparently car- ried out by the Frenchman more than nine years before, between 1999 and 2002. The pair are un- derstood to be under investiga- tion by FIFA's ethics committee. Blatter has denied wrongdoing. His United States-based lawyer Richard Cullen said in a state- ment: "While Coca-Cola is a val- ued sponsor of FIFA, Mr Blatter respectfully disagrees with its position and believes firmly that his leaving office now would not be in the best interest of FIFA, nor would it advance the process of reform and, therefore, he will not resign." The statement from Budweiser's producers AB InBev said Blatter's continued presence was "an ob- stacle in the reform process". Sepp Blatter UEFA president Michel Platini, freshly embroiled in the FIFA scan- dal over a 1.8-million euro payment he received from president Sepp Blatter, called the French sports ministry to insist he had done noth- ing wrong. "He has the feeling he is clean and he wanted to say it to me again," Secretary of State Thierry Braillard told French sports daily L'Equipe on Saturday. "He explained everything. I fully trust his honesty and his determi- nation to become FIFA president," he added. Blatter is under criminal investi- gation by Swiss authorities but re- mains in office ahead of a scheduled February election. Platini is being questioned about a payment of two million Swiss francs he recovered from Blatter but has not been ac- cused of any wrongdoing, although he admitted the development had damaged his chances of replacing Blatter as FIFA president. French Sports minister Patrick Kanner also gave his support to Platini on Saturday. "We have not changed our minds on the support we give him. If there was any problem, I do not doubt for a minute that he would have re- fused to run for FIFA president," he told L'Equipe. "His message to us was 'continue to trust me'. That's what he wanted to tell us." Platini called French sports ministry to insist he's clean Fury-Klitschko on November 28 UEFA President Michel Platini TYSON Fury and Wladimir Klitschko's rescheduled world heavyweight title fight will take place on November 28 in Dussel- dorf, according to the Ukrainian's management group. Fury is the mandatory challeng- er to WBA, IBF and WBO cham- pion Klitschko and had been set to fight him at the German city's Esprit Arena on October 24 - until the Ukrainian was forced to post- pone the fight with a calf injury, just two days after their heated confrontation at a London press conference. However, a statement from 39- year-old Klitschko's management on Friday confirmed the bout would now take place on Novem- ber 28. It read: "IBF/IBO and "The Ring Magazine" world heavyweight champion and WBA/WBO su- perchampion Wladimir Klitschko will defend his titles against Tyson Fury on November 28 at ESPRIT arena in Dusseldorf." England's Fury had earlier re- vealed that Klitschko had been given permission to box on that date and that the fight would go ahead subject to confirmation from Sky Sports, who through their pay-per-view Box Office platform will contribute much of the finance required for one of the year's biggest fights. Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury