A giant effigy of suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter
will be torched this weekend as part of a British town’s Bonfire Night
celebrations, organisers revealed Wednesday. The 36-foot (11-metre) tall effigy
of the outgoing Swiss head of world football’s governing body will go up in
flames on Saturday in Eden Bridge, south of London.
Scandal-plagued FIFA has been mired in allegations of
bribery and corruption this year. The effigy is of sharp-suited Blatter
carrying wads of cash, the World Cup and a football. It will be stuffed with
oil-soaked newspapers, packed with fireworks and set ablaze.
“Blatter was the obvious choice,” said Edenbridge Bonfire
Society co-ordinator Charles Laver. “We did put some thought into who else it
could be but… we went for him. “We started building it two weeks ago, and we
are pleased with the result.” It was erected in a field on Wednesday with the
help of a tractor.
Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, is an annual event
marking the foiling of a plot by Catholic conspirators to blow up Protestant
king James I and the Houses of Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder on
November 5, 1605. It is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks display either
on November 5 or the nearest weekend, with effigies of plotter Fawkes burned.
Edenbridge has been poking fun at famous figures for 20
years, torching effigies of them alongside the traditional Guy Fawkes. Other
well-known figures whose effigy has been torched in recent years include former
Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie and Blair’s successor Gordon Brown.
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