All Hail Sepp Blatter

 

Sepp Blatter has succeeded in extending his 17-year reign as FIFA President as he again secured a fresh mandate to run the world football governing body for another four years following his victory at Friday’s polls in Zurich.

 

Blatter was unable to secure the traditional two-thirds in the first round of voting but still saw off the stiff challenge from his opponent Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein defeating him 133-73 votes.
Though a second round of voting was required, Prince Ali pulled off from the race and wished Blatter good luck

Blatter, 79, has been working with FIFA since 1975 before rising to become the President in 1998. He was re-elected as president in 2002, 2007, 2011 and now in 2015.

Blatter started out first as technical director in FIFA , then General Secretary for 17 years from 1981 and then as FIFA president for the past 17 years, having first been elected in 1998

Going into Friday’s polls, Blatter’s unrivalled hegemony looked threatened following the renewed corruption charges against the world football body.

On Wednesday, top ranking officials of FIFA, including one of the body’s Vice Presidents, were arrested by Swiss Police who are working in collaboration with the United States who claim to have damming evidences of shady dealings.

 Blatter did not claim ignorance of the supposed corruption eating deep into the fabrics of FIFA but he advocated evolution rather than revolution in cleaning up the mess that has grown worse in his  two decades of leadership.

 Addressing the 65th FIFA World Congress ahead of the vote, Blatter said he took responsibility for the current crisis — but that the organization was too big for him to monitor everyone in it.

 “I’m willing to accept that the President of FIFA is responsible for everything, but I would like to share that responsibility with you,” he said. “We cannot possibly supervise everybody that’s in football.”

 “There are 209 member associations, and altogether some 1.6 billion people are touched by the game worldwide, he said.

 “We can’t let the reputation of soccer and of FIFA be dragged through the mud, we can’t accept that. Because those who (are) behind this, who are truly at fault, especially if they are convicted — they are individuals, not the entire organization.”

 “We don’t need a revolution,” Blatter added claiming “football needs a strong (and) experienced leader.” “But we still need, and always need, evolution.”

 Though Blatter has again been able to see off his challengers, many fear the worse for the future of football  as influential blocs like UEFA are now openly entertaining the possibility of a boycott of future World Cups if Blatter stays on.

 The prospect of a World Cup without Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, England, etal, would attract few fans, and fewer sponsors analyst predict.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/sports/184012-breaking-blatter-secures-fifth-term-as-fifa-president.html