Sepp Blatter resigns: The questions to be answered over chaos at Fifa

The most unpopular, divisive and documented control of a sporting administration may be over but the outgoing Sepp Blatter leaves behind a sport with significant wreckage and, following the Swiss' hasty exit just days after his re-election, further skeletons remain in the closet.

Between now and the election of a new president, a process that will straddle the new year, there are numerous issues to be debated – a task made all the more difficult by the delay in appointing a successor to Blatter.

Does his resignation leave Jerome Valcke's role indefensible? What of the awarded World Cups in Russia and Qatar? And who will take over from Blatter and clean up Fifa? IBTimes UK addresses the questions that now need answering.

Jerome Valcke

Though Blatter had turned down numerous opportunities to take his leave from Fifa, the grim reality is the disclosing of vice-president Valcke's role in the $10m (£7m) payment from the South African Football Association to Fifa officials Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, alleged to be a bribe, was the straw that broke the camel's back.

As his right-hand man, it is unfathomable that Blatter was not aware of the payment and with the vultures circling, he took the decision to step down potentially in the knowledge of the further investigations to come.

However, though his role is significantly unstable, Valcke remains. With the timing of Blatter's resignation coinciding with questions over the initial $10m payment, the French secretary general's role is untenable. But yet, at the time of writing, he remains in his position, unwilling to take responsibility despite the substantial evidence at hand.

Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cups

Five years on from the controversial awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals to Russia and Qatar, Blatter's exit means their position as host nations is as unstable as it ever has been. Though Blatter's successor may not be in place until March 2016, the new president's first task will be to rule over the awarding of both tournaments that occurred in a joint vote in Zurich.

Officials in Moscow may be confident of retaining the tournament just over two years out from the finals, given the short-term notice of any cancellation and the significant work that will have been done before then. Qatari administrators may be less certain, with the tournament still seven years away and with the assurance that with much of the infrastructure, including stadia, being temporary, the pressure to make an immediate decision is not as pressing.

The recent arrests of 13 Fifa executives in relation to allegations of corruption regarding the awarding of the tournaments in 2018 and 2022 means that while the new president could be in possession of genuine evidence to strip the cities of the competition, the investigations from the Swiss attorney general and FBI and any charges that result could extend the process and delay a re-awarding.

The infrastructure in place in England, France and Germany means a hastily cancelled World Cup could easily be re-allocated to Europe, while Women's World Cup 2015 hosts Canada and United States would represent outsiders to host any tournament.

The new president

Many would claim Fifa has been rudderless for the whole of Blatter's 17 years and five terms in charge of the world governing body but having confirmed his intention to step down and a timeline having been revealed over finding his successor, which could see him remain for another nine months, football is truly entering a directionless era.

But with a genuinely competitive election set to start at the end of 2015, those who have previously shot from the hip, whether they be actual candidates or global football executives, must now put their money where their mouth is. The manifestos of Luis Figo, Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, David Ginola and Michael van Praag were largely indifferent and their respective campaigns rested on being the alternative candidate, rather than representing anything actually worth voting for.

With Blatter's veil unable to mask the failings in the policies of any new incumbent, and reform and ethics now regarded as a prerequisite of any new era of Fifa, candidates will be required to produce a campaign worth supporting and not one that merely acts as a polar opposite to the destructive ways of the previous president.