Sepp Blatter wins another four-year term as Fifa president
FIFA President Sepp Blatter is re-elected for another four years, as an FA move to postpone his “coronation” ends in humiliating failure.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been re-elected for a fourth term in charge of world football’s governing body.
The 75-year-old, who stood unopposed, was voted in during a largely ceremonial secret ballot of the organisation’s 208 member associations.
One by one, FIFA members entered the wooden voting booths, stuffing the ballot boxes in favour of the 75-year-old – the only name on the blue voting slips.
The results of the election showed 203 out of 208 members voted, with 186 votes for Mr Blatter.
A move by the Football Association to postpone the election in the light of recent allegations of corruption backfired, with an isolated FA coming under attack for “lying and complaining”.
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The FA and the Scottish FA accused FIFA of a lack of transparency and accountability, with Prince William, the FA’s president, and Prime Minister David Cameron backing the call for a postponement of the ballot.
But even Wales and Northern Ireland chose not to support England and the motion was defeated by 172 to 17.
Fifa members then lined up to attack the FA, with senior vice-president Julio Grondona, the Argentinian head of Fifa’s finance committee, saying: “We always have attacks from England which are mostly lies with the support of journalism which is more busy lying than telling the truth. This upsets and disturbs the Fifa family.”
He continued: “It looks like England is always complaining so please I say will you leave the Fifa family alone, and when you speak, speak with truth.”
The humiliation continued with the leaders of associations from Haiti, the Congo DR, Benin, Fiji and Cyprus all speaking out against the FA’s move.