Sepp Blatter has been re-elected as the FIFA president for a fifth term after Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein conceded defeat at the annual Congress of world soccer’s governing body on Friday (May 29).
Voting was due to go to a second round after neither candidate got two-thirds of the vote in the first round.
Blatter secured 133 votes and Prince Ali got 73. However, the Jordanian challenger decided to withdraw from the election, leaving 79-year-old Swiss Blatter to celebrate securing another four years in office.
Blatter secured 133 votes and Prince Ali got 73. However, the Jordanian challenger decided to withdraw from the election, leaving 79-year-old Swiss Blatter to celebrate securing another four years in office.
There were cheers in the auditorium when FIFA senior vice-president Issa Hayatou announced Blatter had been re-elected.
Blatter’s victory came despite demands that he quit in the face of a major bribery scandal, being investigated by U.S., Swiss and other law enforcement agencies, that plunged FIFA into the worst crisis in its 111-year history.
Blatter released an interview shortly after his victory saying there would be improvements in the organization and some surprises, starting at the Executive Committee meeting in Zurich on Saturday. He acknowledged a difficult time during the meeting and with the world’s media, after he was re-elected when sole opponent Prince Ali bin Al Hussein withdrew because he lost the first vote.
