Blatter re-elected as Fifa president

Sepp Blatter has been Fifa president since 1998 Keystone

Sepp Blatter has been given a third term as president of world football's governing body after standing unopposed at the organisation's 57th congress in Zurich.

On Thursday delegates from each of Fifa’s 208 member nations unanimously backed the Swiss, who originally succeeded Joao Havelange in 1998. His new term of office will last four years, expiring at the 61st congress in 2011.

“Some say to win without danger is to triumph without glory,” Blatter said. “I don’t agree with that. It’s pleasant to be elected without voices against me.”

Earlier, the 71-year-old Swiss pledged over the next four years to continue the fight against “the devils and evils that beset football”, notably doping, corruption, cheating, racism and the growing number of civil court cases being taken out against Fifa.

“We are at a crossroads in football,” he said. “We must be tough in the application of our rules.”

Blatter also confirmed his position that the 2010 World Cup would definitely be hosted by South Africa despite constant speculation that the country may not be ready.

“The World Cup is staying in Africa. Plan A is South Africa, Plan B is South Africa, Plan C is South Africa and Plan D is South Africa,” he said to loud applause.

He also repeated his refusal to introduce video technology during his presidency despite growing clamour for increased electronic aids for officials. “We must safeguard the human face of our game,” he added.

On Thursday, Blatter refused to say much about Fifa’s decision on Sunday to ban games played above 2,500 metres – which would exclude much of Bolivia as well as parts of Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. The decision drew outrage from fans, football officials and governments across Latin America and led to street protests across the Andes on Wednesday.

Blatter said only that the issue would be “looked into and studied again by the executive committee.”

His nomination took place in the same week that Fifa officially opened its new $196-million (SFr240 million) vast stone-and-glass headquarters in Zurich.

Controversy

Blatter, who started out at Fifa in 1975 and became general secretary six years later, rose quickly through the ranks. As general secretary and then president, he has overseen huge growth in the organization.

During his nine-year reign, despite praise for his leadership, business know-how and dedication to promoting grass roots football, particularly in developing nations, Blatter has also been no stranger to controversy.

A year after the contested 1998 election campaign for the job against Lennart Johansson, he was accused of bribing his way to the top. Those allegations have been fiercely denied by the Fifa president and his camp.

In 2006 British journalist Andrew Jennings wrote a book detailing serious allegations of corruption at world football’s governing body surrounding the collapse of Fifa’s marketing partner, ISL/ISMM, which went bankrupt in 2001 with losses of more than $300 million.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter came under fire at the time for not moving quickly enough to avert the financial disaster. Jennings also made allegations of vote-rigging during Fifa’s internal elections.

Blatter faced similar accusations in 2002 from 11 former members of his own executive committee in the run-up to his re-election for a second term as Fifa president.

In December the same year a Zurich court cleared Blatter of corruption and mismanagement, after finding no evidence to support the claims.

Blatter is also known for his outspoken remarks about referees and financial excess in the game, and under his presidency Fifa has banned over-indulgent celebrations.

While he has been the driving force behind moves to boost the profile of women’s football, in 2004 he got in hot water when he suggested that women footballers should wear “tighter shorts” like “volleyball players” to increase the popularity of the game.

swissinfo with agencies

Sepp Blatter

Joseph S. Blatter was born on March 10, 1936 in the town of Visp. After gaining a degree as Bachelor of Business Administration and Economics at Lausanne University, he joined Fifa in 1975.

After rising to the position of General Secretary, Blatter succeeded João Havelange of Brazil as Fifa’s eighth president on June 8, 1998. His first election was at a Fifa congress in Paris.

Fifa member associations voted for him again on May 29, 2002 in Seoul. A Fifa congress in Doha in 2003 exceptionally prolonged his term of office by one year so that the next election would not coincide with the World Cup in Germany in 2006.

Blatter was elected for a third term on May 31 in Zurich. It will last till 2011.

He retains the confidence of the football family despite attacks against him, notably by his former general secretary, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, and British journalist Andrew Jennings, who have accused him of corruption and nepotism.

Fifa

Fifa (The International Federation of Association Football) is soccer’s governing body and is based in Zurich.

Founded in Paris in 1904 Fifa is the umbrella of the confederations of the six continents.

It organises a number of different football competitions, among them the World Cup for men and women.