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Blatter did not run for another eight-year term as a member
of the IOC. He has served on the committee for 16 years.
IOC president Thomas Bach said Blatter informed him by letter
last month that he would not seek re-election. Blatter was
elected an IOC member in 1999, the year after becoming FIFA
president.
"Mr. Blatter wrote me a letter on July 23 informing me that it
would be inappropriate to seek another eight-year term as he was
retiring from his position at FIFA in seven months when a new
president will be selected on Feb. 26," said Bach, speaking on
the final day of the IOC's general assembly in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
The IOC's age restriction of 80 would have forced the
79-year-old Blatter's term to expire if he had sought
re-election.
Blatter won a fifth, four-year term in May as head of the
world's governing soccer body despite a corruption scandal that
rocked the organization and led to the arrest of seven
officials. Days later, Blatter said he would step down because
of the scandal. He has not been directly implicated.
A FIFA vote will take place on Feb. 26, 2016, in Zurich,
Switzerland, to choose Blatter's successor.
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