ZURICH, Switzerland CMC – Sepp Blatter was yesterday re-elected president of football’s world governing body, FIFA, brushing side a corruption scandal that threatened to tear apart the organisation. The Swiss gained 186 votes of the 203 cast to seal another four-year term at a controversial congress overshadowed by calls from the England FA for the elections to be postponed.
Blatter was unopposed for the position after challenger, Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam, stood down in the face of corruption allegations.
“I am honoured to accept the 61st FIFA Congress’s mandate to serve as president during the 2011-2015 period,” Blatter said. “Together we can tackle the problems that football faces today and show that our game remains very solid and strong.”
Blatter entered the election with the presidency for his taking, after FIFA’s ethics committee on Sunday suspended Bin Hammam and powerful vice-president Jack Warner, pending investigations into corruption allegations.
bin Hammam and Warner were reported to FIFA last week for “possible violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics” allegedly committed at a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last month where money was supposedly exchanged for votes.
Both men denied the charges but FIFA’s ethics committee said there was enough evidence to warrant a full investigation.
The 75-year-old Blatter, who was cleared of any wrongdoing by the ethics committee, said he was ready to implement serious reforms in the organisation.
“I wanted this Congress to know and understand that we are in a situation which needs not only words but action. I have been hit, I have been slapped but we are standing and we have created the necessary means to react. I’m not the best swimmer but I can take a ship safely to harbour,” he said.