Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy hopes Sepp Blatter's resignation as FIFA president will bring much-needed "major reform" within the organisation.
Blatter's announcement on Tuesday came just four days after he was re-elected for a fifth term and follows corruption charges against FIFA officials that caused the biggest crisis in the world governing body's history.
Blatter has called an extraordinary congress ''as soon as possible'', saying ''a new president will be elected to follow me''.
In an open letter to the football family, Australian billionaire Lowy wrote: "Sepp Blatter's resignation should open the door to major reform.
"I say 'should' because FIFA's problems are deep-rooted and tangled in a culture that has developed over decades. It will take a united, concerted effort by its football associations to fix the mess.
"Australia has tried its best to work within football forums to promote reform. In 2013 we began work on ideas which would allow FIFA to operate with greater transparency and accountability. Many others in world football have been working on similar projects.
"Now, at last, it appears there might be new leadership at FIFA willing to listen to these ideas.
"I feel that the past week has been a watershed. The series of events leading up to last week's dramatic developments and the overall scandal surrounding FIFA left Australia with no option but to vote for change.
"On a personal level, since 2 December 2010 when Australia received just one vote in its World Cup bid, I have nursed a bitter grievance.
"We ran a clean bid. I know that others did not, and I have shared what I know with the authorities, including Michael Garcia who undertook a two-year investigation into the 2022 World Cup bid.
"We ran a clean bid and we are proud of that, but it wasn't a level playing field and therefore we didn't win it. I will always be bitterly disappointed about the outcome.
"But since 2 December 2010 Australia has been working behind the scenes to bring about change, and we will continue to do that as FIFA embarks on this new era."
Meanwhile, Isha Johansen, president of the Sierra Leone Football Association, explained how Blatter had helped lift the profile of football in Africa.
She told BBC Radio Five Live: "Sepp Blatter has raised the game of football for Africa, the African continent, the African players.
"In terms of Sierra Leone, like I said in congress, I gave him a small speech talking about Ebola. Ours is a country that has seen catastrophe beyond anything unimaginable. If it wasn't the civil war, which ran for almost 20 years, it was the Ebola crisis.
"Time and time again we've had to pick up the pieces, economically, socially and definitely with football."
Asked if Blatter had been a "hero" to Sierra Leone and their recent problems, Johansen added: "I don't really like the word 'indebted'.
"I think it's immense appreciation and also respect for somebody that can say, 'look, you guys keep falling, you're crawling, you're creeping - I'm there to pick you up and give you guys a push'."
Source: PA
