Blatter confesses not having power to strip Havelange of FIFA's honorary presidency

London, July 13(ANI): FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he does not have the power to strip Joao Havelange of FIFA's honorary presidency, and defended the world governing body's lack of action over the ISL bribery scandal.

Havelange, former FIFA president, and his former son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira were named in court documents as having received millions of pounds in bribes from collapsed marketing company ISL in the Nineties.

When asked to respond to having known about the backhanders, Blatter said when these payments were made, at that time it wasn't an illegal transaction under Swiss law.

"Known what? That commission was paid? Back then, such payments could even be deducted from tax as a business expense. Today, that would be punishable under law," The Daily Express quoted Blatter, as saying.

"You can't judge the past on the basis of today's standards. I can't have known about an offence that wasn't even one," he added. (ANI)