Blatter Re-elected As FIFA President

Sepp Blatter was on Friday re-elected
President of FIFA in a vote
overshadowed by arrests and corruption
allegations.
According to BBC , Blatter’s rival, Prince

A

Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan withdrew
after the first round of voting.
Blatter fell seven short of the two-thirds
needed, but Prince Ali opted not to
contest further.
Seven top officials were arrested in
Switzerland on Wednesday as part of a
US prosecution that indicted 14 people.
Blatter, 79, has faced calls to resign,
including from UK Prime Minister David
Cameron, who said in Berlin on
Thursday that the FIFA President should
quit “the sooner the better”.
But Blatter hailed his victory, thanking
all those who voted from him and his
rival, Prince Ali.
The Swiss said, “I am not perfect,
nobody is perfect, but we will do a good
job together I am sure.”
He also hinted that this term in office,
his fifth, could be his last, saying, “At the
end of my term I will give up FIFA in a
strong position.”
In conceding, Prince Ali said, “It’s been
a wonderful journey… And I want to
thank in particular those of you who
were brave enough to support me.”
Global citizens’ movement Avaaz, which
started the #BlatterOut campaign,
quickly condemned the re-election.
Campaign director Alex Wilks said,
“More dirty dealings in FIFA’s halls have
crushed the hopes of billions of football
fans.”
The vote took place at FIFA’s congress in
Zurich. In the first round Blatter won
won 133 to Prince Ali’s 73, just short of
the 140 votes needed for an outright win.
The two candidates had earlier delivered
final appeals to the electors.
The current and former FIFA executives
indicted include Rafael Esquivel, Nicolas
Leoz, Jeffrey Webb, Jack Warner,
Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo and Jose
Maria Marin
Prince Ali, 39, said questions had been
raised in recent days “about whether our
FIFA family is morally bankrupt”.
“There are no easy answers and no
blame that can be cast that will wash
away the stain that marks us all,” he
said.
Blatter said, “I am being held
accountable for the current storm – so be
it, I will shoulder the responsibility. I
will take it upon myself and I want to fix
FIFA together with you.”
To applause from a large number of
delegates, he said, “I would like to stay
with you. I would like to continue with
you.”
The vote comes two days after seven top
officials were held in Zurich in a US
fraud inquiry that indicted 14 people.
They are accused of bribery,
racketeering and money-laundering
involving tens of millions of dollars since
1991.
The aim of the bribes was to influence
the outcome of bids to stage football
tournaments such as the 2010 World Cup
in South Africa and the 2016 Copa
America in the US, prosecutors say.
Swiss prosecutors have launched a
separate investigation into the bidding
process for the World Cup tournaments
in 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar.