- FIFA president Sepp Blatter has won reelection to a fifth term in the wake of the soccer governing body’s election scandal.
- He survived a challenge from Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, FIFA’s vice president, who’d promised to reform the organization.
- Each of FIFA’s 209 member countries gets one vote. Prince Ali withdrew from the election after losing 133 votes to 73 in an initial round.
- Blatter will now serve another four-year term. He’s been FIFA president since 1998, when he succeeded João Havelange.
The corruption scandal wasn’t enough to dethrone FIFA president Sepp Blatter
After several top FIFA officials were arrested for corruption on Wednesday, the organization went ahead with a presidential election as planned.
And though longtime president Sepp Blatter faced a slightly stiffer challenge than expected, he still defeated the only challenger — Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan — winning an initial round by a count of 133 votes to 73. Blatter lost support among European countries and the US, but retained votes from Asia, Africa, and Latin America nations.
The first round required a two-thirds majority to win, but Prince Ali withdrew from the election shortly after votes were counted. The next round would have been won by simple majority, which likely would have gone to Blatter.
Despite years of allegations that Blatter has bought votes, presided over a bribe-filled World Cup bidding process, and engaged in other forms of corruption, he wasn’t been charged in either of the criminal investigations opened Wednesday. It’s possible that he could be picked up by the US Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation, but for now, he looks to be safe — and will retain his powerful leadership position.
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By Joseph Stromberg
