Blatter Heads to Russia for First Foreign Trip Since Crisis

TEMPO.CO, St. Petersburg - FIFA President Sepp Blatter is due in Russia on Thursday for his first overseas trip since the arrests of fellow soccer executives in May left him unwilling to leave the safety of Switzerland.

Saturday's qualifying draw in St. Petersburg for the 2018 World Cup will be the 79-year-old Blatter's last official event connected to football's showcase tournament before he prematurely leaves office in February.

Although Blatter has not been accused of wrongdoing by American or Swiss authorities, the repercussions of the corruption investigations convinced the president to hastily announce resignation plans last month just four days after his re-election, and to stay in Switzerland.

Since May 27 — when police in Zurich arrested some of Blatter's close associates on behalf of the U.S. and seized data from FIFA headquarters — Blatter has been absent from two FIFA events. The Swiss native missed handing over the trophy in New Zealand for the under-20s World Cup and presenting the Women's World Cup in Canada.

Blatter confirmed recently: "Until everything is clarified, I won't take any travel risks."

He is returning to the global stage alongside a similarly polarizing leader with American adversaries: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In jetting to Russia, Blatter is being reunited at the draw ceremony with a close ally in Putin, and a country where he will not fear being detained, given its lack of extradition treaty with the United States.

"We always counted on President Blatter's participation in the show," World Cup organizing committee chief executive Alexei Sorokin told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We will welcome him here as president of FIFA, as a guest of our country, as a friend of our country.

"It's the first event for us in terms of the World Cup and we are trying to organize it in the most ... welcoming fashion for everyone."

Blatter and Putin are expected to address the visiting national team coaches and officials at the Konstantinovsky Palace before the draw determines the qualifying path to the finals in Russia in June-July 2018.

Blatter last left Switzerland in mid-May when he flew, as always by private jet, to Israel for talks in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

AP