FIFA President Sepp Blatter has won a fifth term as president of FIFA "after his challenger conceded following an inconclusive first ballot," according to Moore, Aglionby & Odell of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The corruption scandal that has shaken FIFA seemed to play a part as Blatter "narrowly failed to win a majority in the first round of a presidential election." Blatter, aged 79, won 133 out of 206 votes, "leaving him four votes short of the required two-thirds majority." But his challenger, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, the 39-year-old son of Jordan’s late King Hussein, "conceded the race" as it looked unlikely he could overturn Blatter’s lead in a second round ballot that would have required a simple majority. Blatter said, "Thank you for voting. I will be in command of this boat called FIFA for the next four years and we will bring it back from offshore to the beach." Blatter "remained defiant despite the storm that has engulfed the organisation he has run for the past 17 years." Blatter: "All those who voted for Prince Ali, I congratulate you, he was a good candidate. But I am now the president of everybody" (FT, 5/29). REUTERS' Collett & Homewood wrote Blatter won despite demands that "he quit in the face of a major bribery scandal being investigated by U.S., Swiss and other law enforcement agencies." Yet his mandate, which was far from convincing, "raises fresh questions over his leadership with the possibility of civil war in international football, unhappy sponsors demanding reform and prosecutors looking to widen their investigations." There "has also been talk of UEFA breaking away from FIFA, which is also unlikely, but nothing can be ruled out." Blatter's future "could yet depend on the reaction of FIFA's major sponsors and stakeholders who have been deeply dismayed by the dawn arrests in Zurich" (REUTERS, 5/29).
THE MONEY TRAIL: The AP reported Blatter criticized U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and an American federal investigation into football corruption that "could yet lead directly to his door." In an interview with his local Swiss broadcaster, Blatter said "there is something that smells" about the timing of dawn raids to arrest football officials in Zurich two days before his re-election Friday. Lynch said Wednesday that indicted FIFA and marketing officials had "corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves." Blatter: "I was shocked by what she said. As a president, I would never make a statement about another organization without knowing." Blatter then suggested that the U.S. Department of Justice "went too far in its actions which brought a torrent of condemnation down on FIFA, which he has led for 17 years." Blatter said, "Listen, with all the respect to the judicial system of the U.S. with a new minister of justice, the Americans, if they have a financial crime that regards American citizens then they must arrest these people there and not in Zurich when we have a congress." He even suggested "a political motive for the American investigation." Referring to the Jordanian prince's home country, Blatter said, "The United States, it is the main sponsors of the Hashemite kingdom" (AP, 5/31). In London, Green & Peck wrote Blatter "has warned his opponents that he would never forget the campaign of 'hate' they had orchestrated against him," as U.S. tax authorities revealed that further corruption charges are expected. Asked whether he forgave UEFA President Michel Platini, "who personally asked him to resign over the corruption scandal," Blatter replied, "I forgive everyone but I don’t forget." Richard Weber, head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations unit, hinted that "more charges were expected but did not elaborate" on whether Blatter’s name would appear on the list of targets. Weber: "I’m fairly confident that we will have another round of indictments." He added that the U.S. had not been targeting FIFA specifically, as Blatter suggested, but "had simply followed a trail of wrongdoing" (INDEPENDENT, 5/31).
BLATTER DEFIANT: The AFP's Tim Witcher wrote Blatter said that "he believes there is a deliberate campaign against FIFA including the arrests just two days before the vote." Blatter: "There are signs which cannot be mistaken: the Americans were candidates for the 2022 World Cup and they lost." Blatter also hit out at UEFA and Platini, "who had called for his resignation over the corruption scandals." Blatter: "It is a hate that comes not just from one person at UEFA, it comes from the UEFA organization that cannot understand that in 1998 I became president" (AFP, 5/31). In London, Moore wrote at a press briefing on Saturday at FIFA’s HQ in Zurich, Blatter "was asked if he was worried he would be arrested" after U.S. investigators swooped on seven of his most senior colleagues and alleged "severe" corruption at FIFA’s highest levels. He replied, "Arrested for what?" He said that he had "no concerns" about the U.S. investigation and "no concerns about my person." Blatter said that "he would have to repair relations with football’s biggest sponsors, including Visa and Coca-Cola," admitting that the storm of the past week had tarnished FIFA. He said, "We have already had contact. We have exchanged letters and we start now to bring back the reputation of FIFA" (FT, 5/30). REUTERS' Homewood reported Blatter also criticized UEFA and said that "it was not setting a good example" to other football federations. He said that UEFA "had opposed a proposal to set up an independent committee to carry out integrity checks on executive committee members before they could take office." Blatter: "This was rejected by UEFA so it couldn't go through. Even now, the big UEFA doesn't have an independent ethics committee, (but) they should be an example for the other confederations. ... It's not acceptable." He did, however, "call for the two groups to work together, particularly to protect the World Cup." He said, "They need FIFA and FIFA needs UEFA" (REUTERS, 5/30).
ATTACK MODE: In London, Owen Gibson wrote Blatter "has launched an astonishing attack" on the U.S. justice system and the British media. He "denied being the unnamed high-ranking official" who authorized the payment of a $10M bribe to former FIFA VP Jack Warner, as alleged in last week’s U.S. indictment. His attack on the U.S. authorities and the British media "had echoes" of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that the arrests were "an attempt to undermine Blatter and destabilise the 2018 World Cup." A Kremlin spokesperson "offered congratulations on Blatter’s re-election, which will take his tenure to 21 years if he serves a full four-year term." The spokesperson said, "Putin expressed certainty that Blatter’s experience, professionalism and high level of authority will further allow him to spread the geographical reach and popularity of football" (GUARDIAN, 5/30). In a separate article, Gibson wrote using sporting events as political tools "is nothing new (see the Berlin 1936 Olympics or the 1978 World Cup in Argentina), but since the World Cup and Olympics became hugely enriched by an influx of TV and sponsorship income the game has changed." As ever, FIFA and its senior execs "have followed the money." If "the first era of global sports politics was largely dominated by old-style European colonialism and the second by João Havelange’s Brazilian style of doing business that merged the personal, the political and the professional until they became indistinguishable, then Blatter’s latest victory confirms a new world order" (GUARDIAN, 5/30). In London, Nick Harris wrote Blatter’s fifth term as FIFA president "is likely to come under further intense pressure with the damaging suggestion that his right-hand man" FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke would have needed to authorize a $10M payment, which U.S. legal papers claim was a bribe paid to Warner. The DoJ document alleges that "the South African government agreed to pay" Warner and two fellow FIFA ExCo members $10M to vote for South Africa to stage the 2010 World Cup. One of those other ExCo members "was America’s Chuck Blazer, whose whistle-blowing has helped to inform the current investigation." A long-serving FIFA insider said that "internal protocol dictates who can and cannot authorise cash transfers from FIFA bank accounts of the magnitude involved." The source said, "There are only two people inside FIFA who would have the authority to make those payments and sign them off. Jerome Valcke as general secretary is one. Markus Kattner as director of finance would be the other." The fact that Valcke would have needed to sign off the $10M transfer "brings the corruption scandal directly to the door of Blatter" (DAILY MAIL, 5/30).
A NEW LOW: Gibson also reported relations between the FA and world football’s governing body "have hit a new low" after Blatter took aim at David Gill over his resignation as a FIFA VP. Blatter’s barbed comments "came as Gill boycotted Saturday’s executive committee meeting and promised to quit in protest at Blatter’s re-election." Blatter: "You can’t take responsibility when you are elected and don’t come to the first meeting. This is no responsibility. If you are elected you have to come, whoever is the president" (GUARDIAN, 5/30). WALES ONLINE's Paul Abbandonato wrote Wales "could be asked to step in and take a seat" next to Blatter as scandal "hit FIFA’s top table following the English FA’s refusal to continue in the role." Gill's stance "could pave the way for Trefor Lloyd-Hughes, Welsh football’s most powerful man, to be ushered in as a substitute on FIFA’s powerful executive committee" (WALES ONLINE, 5/30). The BBC reported Prince William urged FIFA to "show that it can
represent the interests of fair play and put the sport first." Prince
William, the president of the FA, "made his comments during a speech
before the cup final at Wembley." He "urged sponsors and other backers
to use their influence" with FIFA to support reform (BBC, 5/31).
BLATTER GIVES THANKS: The AFP's Dennis Passa wrote Blatter "took time Friday to thank his friends in the most remote and smallest of the six international football confederations." Blatter: "We need more respect for the Oceanian confederation." The Oceania confederation announced in January and again last month that "it would be supporting Blatter, as it has done consistently through his terms" (AFP, 5/30).
