Blatter hammered over ethics tweet

Controversial FIFA Presdient has been hammered on social media for claiming FIFA has "taken the lead," in acting ethically. His organization is accused of corruption in awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, and most recently is accused of accepting luxury watches from Brazil's football federation.

"Everyone in the global football community has a responsibility to act ethically," Blatter tweeted on Friday. "Football fans rightly demand this. FIFA has taken the lead".

The social media posting quickly met with derision and ridicule from football fans.

"Is this a joke?" user Joseph Freeman posted on the microblogging site. "You really don't get irony do you Sepp?" user John Kelly tweeted.

The tweet came as Blatter opened the World Summit on Ethics in Sports in Zurich on Friday, and brought unwanted attention to his own organizations public image problems.

FIFA's executive committee is currently being investigated for corruption in awarding the next two World Cups to Russia and Qatar. American prosecutor John Garcia and German judge Joachim Eckert spoke openly about the probe for the first time on Friday, though they did not reveal any details about the investigation. The verdicts of the probes wont be ready until early next year, Eckert said.

Garcia complained about FIFA secrecy rules that keep his reports sealed. "I think that is a disservice in many ways because people are skeptical and want information" he said.

The FIFA Executive Committee is also under fire for allegedly accepting gifts of luxury watches from Brasil's football association, valued at around $26,000 (20,263 Euros) each, and spending at least $140,000 (109,110 Euros) on watches to give to officials at the World Cup.

bw/ksb (AP, Reuters)