'Courageous' or 'good news?' World football reacts to Blatter's departure

As Sepp Blatter permanently benches himself from the beautiful game, reactions to his sudden departure from FIFA have been flooding in.<br /><br /> Michel Platini<br /><br /> UEFA President Michel Platini – long touted a a potential successor to Blatter – called his decision “difficult,” “brave” and “right.”<br /><br /> The FA and Luis Figo<br /><br /> The English Football Association labelled the exit “good news for world football and FIFA.” It was a sentiment echoed by Portugal’s Luis Figo, who briefly stood in last week’s FIFA presidential election, before withdrawing from the race. <br /><br /> In messages on social media, the former player said he hoped football’s world governing body would now “enter a new era.”<br /><br /> Change is finally coming. Let’s find a solution to start a new era of transparency and democracy in FIFA. http://t.co/XXYt1NfooH— Luís Figo (@LuisFigo) June 2, 2015<br /><br /> Russia<br /><br /> In Russia, the host nation for the 2018 World Cup, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko described the decision as “courageous,” but “taken under pres