IN A STUNNING TURN OF EVENTS, just days after being re-elected as head of international soccer’s governing body, Sepp Blatter announced today he is stepping down as head of FIFA, ending a tumultuous and scandal-plagued tenure as the most powerful person in sports.

Among a growing chorus of criticism of both his leadership and of FIFA's corruption, Blatter said he will step down once a new president is elected at a special FIFA congress at a yet-to-be-named date later this year.

“FIFA needs a profound overhaul," Blatter said in French that was translated by FIFA. "While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football—the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe, and love football as much as we all do at FIFA. Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate [as president] at an extraordinary elective congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA president until that election."

Blatter said that Domenico Scala, the chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, was placed in charge of organizing the new FIFA congress where his successor will be decided.

“The announcement today by President Blatter represents an exceptional and immediate opportunity for positive change within FIFA,” US Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who did not vote for Blatter last week, said in a statement. “I commend him for making a decision that puts FIFA and the sport we love above all other interests. This is the first of many steps towards real and meaningful reform within FIFA. Today is an occasion for optimism and belief for everyone who shares a passion for our game.”

SOUND OFF ON BLATTER'S RESIGNATION HERE

The resignation comes less than a week after U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced a multi-count indictment of 14 persons either working for FIFA or tied to companies that do business with it on a range of corruption charges. Blatter was not among those indicted but Lynch said the investigation was ongoing and that more indictments of FIFA officials were likely.

A justice department source told American Soccer Now that Blatter was “being scrutinized very closely by us” and a New York Times report Monday linked Blatter’s top lieutenant, Jerome Valcke, to a $10 million payment to buy votes for South Africa’s bid to host the 2010 World Cup.

ASN confirmed with a Justice Department source an ABC News report that “there’s probably a race to see who flips on (Blatter) first.”

Given the abrupt nature of this announcement it is too soon to tell who will be among the candidates to replace Blatter. Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein was his only opponent on the ballot Friday and former Portuguese star Luis Figo and Dutch soccer official Michael van had previously run but dropped out as the election approached. Michel Platini, the former French star turned head of European soccer and a frequent Blatter critic, may also run and would be considered a strong frontrunner if he were to do so.

Blatter’s resignation calls into question the site of the 2022 World Cup, which in 2010 was awarded to Qatar over, among other countries, the United States in a controversial and according to multiple reports, corrupt vote.

Despite mounting evidence that Qatar bribed its way through an election process tthat awarded it the World Cup and ran on a misleading platform about its ability to host the games safely amid summer heat, Blatter maintained that the small Persian Gulf nation should be allowed to host the world’s biggest sporting event in 2022.

A change atop FIFA will likely lead to a re-examination of the 2022 World Cup site, and if there is a re-vote the U.S. would be a leading contender.

Blatter and FIFA apparently came under substantial pressure from myriad corporate sponsors—among them, Visa, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s—which are headquartered in the U.S. and are more prone to be susceptible to the negative public relations that comes from being associated with such blatant corruption.

A source working for Visa and familiar with the thinking of the company at the executive levels told American Soccer Now that the company was very unhappy about the FIFA scandals and that it applied pressure on FIFA and Blatter seeking “immediate and significant changes” in how the organization is run.

“They do have significant power and as far as their willingness to exercise it, every company is different,” said New York University sports business professor and FIFA player agent Ted Philipakos. “In terms of how it impacts their brands and the goals of their partnership, anyone of these major partners does have a significant say. It’s not overstated that FIFA corruption, these sort of stories, there is a risk of negative brand equity attacking to major brands like Visa and Coca-Cola and obviously that’s a concern.

"You’re paying all this money for the glow of the event to shine on you—not to have the opposite effect. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these companies leaned hard on FIFA to make a change.”

Notoriously defiant in the face of corruption charges, Blatter had previously absolved himself of responsibility for FIFA’s myriad scandals linked to bribes, kick-backs, and vote-peddling, always claimed that he was the best person to guide FIFA forward despite so much corruption happening on his watch.

When he was re-elected to a fifth four-year term on Friday, just days after the Justice Department indictments were unsealed, the 79-year-old Swiss native appeared to have successfully weathered this latest threat to his power.

“I am the president of everybody,” Blatter said giddily in his acceptance speech, before vowing to lead a long-overdue FIFA reform movement. 

Reform is likely to come, but Blatter will not be part of that process. 

Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.