Soccer chief gets 5th term despite probe

Sepp Blatter celebrates his re-election as president Friday at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
Sepp Blatter celebrates his re-election as president Friday at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

ZURICH -- Sepp Blatter won a fifth term as president of FIFA, world soccer's ruling body, two days after U.S. criminal charges targeted his inner circle.

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Michel Platini (left), president of the Union of European Football Associations, consoles Jordanian Prince Ali bin al-Hussein in Zurich on Friday after Ali dropped his challenge to FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

The 79-year-old's sole opponent, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, withdrew before a second-round ballot. In the first round, Blatter drew 133 votes -- seven fewer than he needed to win -- to the Jordanian's 73. Blatter now gets four more years to head the nonprofit body, which collected almost $5 billion from running last year's World Cup in Brazil.

"I take the responsibility to bring back FIFA," Blatter said. "At the end of this term, I will give this FIFA to my successor in a very, very strong position."

Wednesday's arrests at a Zurich hotel were the biggest controversy to touch FIFA under Blatter's tenure. Swiss authorities are carrying out their own investigation into alleged corruption, racketeering and other misdeeds in the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar. Seven soccer officials were among 14 charged by U.S. prosecutors, who vowed more arrests in a widening probe of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.

Blatter was not implicated in the U.S. indictments, but prosecutors have said the investigations are far from over.

Blatter congratulated Prince Ali for what he said was "a very good result," then told the delegates, "I like you," adding, "For the next four years, I will be in command of this boat called FIFA. And we will bring it back on shore."

Ali, in conceding the race, said, "I want to thank, in particular, all of you who were brave enough to support me." As he stepped away from the podium, he was greeted with a hug by Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. Soccer, who had been one of his earliest supporters.

With his victory, Blatter continues a 40-year career with FIFA. He has served as president since 1998, and his accomplishments are significant. Under his watch, FIFA has overseen considerable growth in soccer's popularity and has drastically increased its commitment to women's soccer, youth soccer and aid for developing countries through sports.

While Europe and some countries in the Americas supported Ali, Blatter had widespread support from the Asian and African confederations. In FIFA voting, each member country has one vote, regardless of size. Blatter has long had the support of many smaller or developing countries that rarely make a mark on the soccer field.

"I like you. I like my job," Blatter said to the assembly after receiving a mix of cheers and jeers as he stepped to the stage for his victory speech. "I am not perfect; nobody is perfect, but we will do a good job together I am sure."

Blatter also took some measure of responsibility for the persistent problems that have plagued FIFA during his reign, saying, "I will shoulder it." He added, "I just want to fix FIFA together with you."

Blatter joined FIFA 40 years ago and became a top aide to Joao Havelange of Brazil, who ran the organization for 24 years until stepping down in 1998. Blatter beat Lennart Johansson of Sweden to first take control of FIFA that year.

Blatter had promised that his previous term would be his last before changing his mind last year, saying he still had changes to make.

"We don't need revolutions, but we always need evolutions," he said Friday, before adding: "I am with you. Some will say a long time; some will say too long. But what is time?"

Blatter shrugged. "I say my time at FIFA has been too short."

Europe officials in opposition

Blatter won despite direct calls for his resignation from Michel Platini, president of the Union of European Football Associations, or UEFA. Platini, who publicly backed Ali alongside most other European voting members, sat still during the congress and did not clap during the victory remarks.

"I am proud that UEFA has defended and supported a movement for change at FIFA, change which in my opinion is crucial if this organization is to regain its credibility," Platini said.

The Union of European Football Associations is to hold meetings next week in Berlin ahead of the Champions League final. Platini said before the vote that the organization could pull out of FIFA and withdraw from the World Cup if Blatter was re-elected.

"We will be open to all options," Platini said.

Other leading European soccer officials voiced their opposition to the election results.

"Mr. Blatter knew and was aware of the acts of corruption, influence and racketeering or, if he did not know -- as he says -- it's because he has no skills to lead FIFA," Real Madrid and Barcelona star Luis Figo, one of two candidates who quit the race to back Ali, said in an email. "The fact that the man responsible for FIFA reaching this point has been re-elected shows the organization is sick."

England Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, who voted for Ali, said Europe's opposition to Blatter would not wane.

"This isn't over by any means," he said. "The events of this week are so traumatic for FIFA that I cannot see FIFA reforming itself under Blatter -- he's had years to reform it, and he hasn't done it."

Gulati, also a member of FIFA's executive committee, said he voted against Blatter.

"While we are disappointed in the result of the election, we will continue to push for meaningful change within FIFA," he said. "Our goal is for governance of FIFA that is responsible, accountable, transparent and focused solely on the best interests of the game."

At the same time, FIFA's big-money sponsors have called for change within FIFA. In a statement, Coca-Cola called on FIFA to resolve the scandal.

"FIFA must now seize the opportunity to begin winning back the trust it has lost. We urge FIFA to take concrete actions to fully address all of the issues that have been raised, in a swift and transparent manner," Coca-Cola said.

Visa has warned it could pull out of its contract, which is worth at least $25 million per year through 2022.

Meanwhile, the first of the 14 indicted made an appearance in U.S. court Friday in New York City. Aaron Davidson, 44, president of Traffic Sports USA Inc., was freed on bail after pleading innocent to charges of helping his company funnel bribes to soccer officials.

The court agreed to allow Davidson to remain under electronic monitoring in his Miami condominium under a $5 million bail package proposed by prosecutors.

Information for this article was contributed by Alex Duff, Tariq Panja, Vernon Silver, Erik Matuszewski, Christie Smythe and David Voreacos of Bloomberg News; by Sam Borden, Dan Bilefsky and Andrew Das of The New York Times; and by Graham Dunbar, Rob Harris, Frank Jordans and James Ellingworth of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/30/2015

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