Sepp Blatter has been re-elected for a fifth term as president of FIFA.
The 79-year-old defeated his rival, the Jordanian Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein, to cheers from his supporters. Blatter polled 133 votes to Prince Ali’s 73, which would have been enough to take the contest to a potential second round but his 39-year-old challenger withdrew.
Blatter has weathered the storm in the short term but the result leaves him presiding over a split Fifa as he faces the biggest self-inflicted crisis in its 111-year history. “For the next four years I will be in command of this boat called Fifa and we will bring it back ashore, we will bring it back to the beach,” he said, again promising to make this four year term his last. “The age is no problem. You have people that are 50 who look old.”
European football’s governing body Uefa will again loudly demand reform.
Its executives meet in Berlin next weekend before the Champions League final and were in militant mood after Blatter triumphed over his younger rival, who had promised to repair Fifa’s battered reputation and serve for only one four-year term.
