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Defiant Blatter re-elected Fifa boss in spite of bribery scandal
AFTER three days presiding over the worst corruption scandal in football’s history, a shameless Sepp Blatter last night won an astonishing re-election.
The defiant Fifa chief toasted victory by conceding he was ‘not perfect’ but promising reform.
Despite a £100million bribery investigation and a growing police inquiry, Blatter’s critics failed to topple him as head of football’s world governing body.
He survived his biggest challenge yet after a single rival took him to the brink of a second-round vote before conceding defeat.
In a rambling, tub-thumping address after retaining his presidency for a fifth term, Blatter thanked ‘God, Allah or whoever’ and proclaimed: ‘I am not perfect, nobody is perfect but we will do a good job together, I’m sure. Let’s go Fifa! Let’s go!’
Waving his arms, a smiling Blatter conceded there were ‘some organisational problems within Fifa’ but promised: ‘I will be in command of this boat called Fifa and we will bring it back to the beach where beach soccer can be played.’
The 79-year-old Swiss was challenged for the Fifa presidency by a stalking-horse candidate, Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, who was backed by the European governing body Uefa.
Prince Ali won 73 votes to Blatter’s 133 – leaving the incumbent seven short of the absolute majority needed. But before a second round of voting at Fifa’s congress hall in Zurich, Prince Ali withdrew from the race, thanking ‘ those of you brave enough to have supported me’.
Blatter has stubbornly ignored worldwide calls for him to quit as the corruption probe engulfed the body he has led for 17 years. The US authorities have branded his organisation ‘the World Cup of fraud’.
The US Department of Justice has charged 14 people – including nine Fifa officials – over alleged bribes totalling almost £100million paid for television rights, sponsorship deals and World Cup votes. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has joined the investigation. But last night a triumphant Blatter brushed aside his critics and insisted he would ‘take full responsibility to bring back Fifa’.
His re- election for another four years immediately threw the next World Cup into potential doubt amid mounting calls for a boycott. European federations have indicated they might quit the tournament if Blatter kept his grip on the sport, and big-money sponsors such as Visa have threatened to pull the plug too.
Last night the FA’s chairman, Greg Dyke, pledged that England would ‘not withdraw alone’ but did not close the door on a potential walk-out.
He added that he would be ‘very surprised’ if Blatter was still Fifa president in two years, saying: ‘I cannot see Fifa reforming itself under Blatter – he’s had years to do it.’ George Cohen, 75, a member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team, said England should boycott the tournament. ‘A lot of countries will say we can’t play under these circumstances and I agree with them,’ he said.
As he made a final speech to woo voters in Zurich, Blatter dismissed this week’s dramatic FBI and Swiss raids as a conspiracy by England and America as revenge for not getting the next two World Cups.
Echoing Vladimir Putin’s claims of the West ‘meddling’, he blamed his ‘problems’ on the fact Russia rather than England was chosen to host the 2018 tournament, and Qatar rather than the US for 2022.
Blatter told delegates: ‘If two other countries had emerged from the envelopes, we would not have these problems today.’
The first protest action has come from David Gill, the Football Association vice- chairman, who will reject the post of British vice-president because he does not want to serve under Blatter.