FIFA President Blatter's Twitter account hacked

By Reuters | Updated: 23 April 2013 10:14 IST

FIFA President Sepp Blatter's Twitter account was hacked on Monday with a series of bizarre tweets saying he was stepping down and was involved in corruption.

A statement from FIFA confirmed the account had been hacked, saying, "Some FIFA accounts, incl. @SeppBlatter and @fifaworldcup, have been hacked. If in doubt, please verify any info with FIFA office."

The bogus messages on Blatter's account included a retweet from FIFA World Cup saying, "It was decided that the president Sepp Blatter is to step down due to corruption charges.

Another tweet on Blatter's page said, "So what if I took money from Qatari prince? I am the family's bread earner," before declaring himself unrepentant.

"His excellency the Emir of Qatar has been the most generous figure I have ever met," and "I do not apologize for my decision. I have done the best for Fifa. For almost 15 years I have toiled for this organization."

The official World Cup Twitter account also fell victim to the hackers with several fake messages, including: "Sepp Blatter has been investigated for multiple charges of bribery."

A group calling themselves the Syrian Electronic Army, supportive of the country's leader, Bashar Al-Assad, claimed responsibility for hacking the accounts, tweeting, "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here" and "Twitter #Failure. You can't stop us!"

Blatter, 77, has been president of FIFA since 1998 and has not yet announced whether he will be standing for a fifth term when his current mandate ends in 2015.

© Thomson Reuters 2013

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