FIFA executive committee member Kozo Tashima said Wednesday that he is not buying president Sepp Blatter's explanation for his resignation and that the leader of soccer's world governing body should consider stepping down before his successor is decided.
Hours after the about-face took place at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Tashima said he was stunned by Blatter's announcement to quit amid a corruption scandal, just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term.
But Tashima, who learned of the news as he watched the live broadcast of the French Open quarterfinal between Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, is not convinced by Blatter's reasoning that he did not have the "mandate of the entire world of football."