Sepp Blatter has resigned as FIFA president he is under corruption investigation in the United States. The recent corruption case has plunged world soccer’s governing body into the worst crisis in its history. Blatter, 79, who has been in power for 17 years, announced the decision at a news conference in Zurich, six days after the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials and just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as president.

Swiss authorities mounted their own criminal probe into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. Fifa’s Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, was implicated in a $10 million payment that lies at the heart of the U.S. case.

In the press meet, Blatter says he wants to bring forward the date of the next Fifa congress so members can elect his successor “as soon as possible”.