FIFA Re-elects Sepp Blatter To Fifth Term Despite Corruption Scandal
FIFA members re-elected Sepp Blatter to another term as President during Friday’s vote amid growing allegations of corruption and influence peddling. The election was surrounded by controversy after the United States Justice Department conducted a raid in a Swiss hotel and arrested several FIFA executives who are now facing corruption charges.
Many observers believe FIFA’s corruption begins with Blatter, who has been President of the organization since June 1998. Following the surprising arrests of several executives earlier this week, soccer fans demanded FIFA oust its embattled President in Friday’s election.
The incumbent was challenged by Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, who was the candidate put forward by England’s Football Association to challenge Blatter’s 17-year tenure, according to CNN. Al-Hussein is the head of the Asian Football Conference and a FIFA vice president.
Despite the shadows of scandal hanging over him, FIFA voted for Blatter, who blamed the recent scandal on a few individuals and called for the corrupt members to be punished. Additionally, Blatter has vowed to repair the organization’s tarnished reputation and took responsibility for the scandal.
“I’m willing to accept that the president of FIFA is responsible for everything, but I would like to share that responsibility with you. We cannot possibly supervise everybody that’s in football.”
“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.”
It took two rounds for the 209 FIFA members to re-elect Sepp Blatter. Mashable reported 133 members voted for the current President while Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan only got 73 votes. He withdrew in the second round, leaving the field open for Blatter to take the seat again.
FIFA’s re-election of Sepp Blatter has been hot news topic around the world, and social media is no exception. On Twitter, several related hashtags are trending, and now that the vote is over, people are tweeting their thoughts.
May 29, 2015
But not only regular folks were disappointed — while not surprised — that FIFA reelected Sepp Blatter for another term. UEFA President Michel Platini asked Blatter to step down ahead of the Friday vote and threatened to take action if he is reinstated.
“Many people, they don’t want to stay with this FIFA, and if Sepp is still the president, UEFA has to take its responsibility,” the former French player said.
Several major sponsors — including Visa and Coca-Cola — have expressed concerns regarding the FIFA corruption scandal and question the way in which Sepp Blatter has handled the situation. Mashable has also been extremely critical of the re-elected FIFA President, derisively referring to him as “Blattermouth.”
In view of the constant, long-term allegations of corruption against FIFA executives, do you think Sepp Blatter should resign his position as President of FIFA?
[Photos by Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images – Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images – Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images]
