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Sepp Blatter
Blatter in April 2015
8th President of FIFA
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 1998
Preceded byJoão Havelange
Personal details
Born
Josef Blatter[1]

(1936-03-10) 10 March 1936 (age 88)
Visp, Valais, Switzerland
Spouse(s)Liliane Biner
Barbara Käser
​
(m. 1981⁠–⁠1991)​

Graziella Bianca
​
​
(m. 2002⁠–⁠2004)​
Domestic partner(s)Ilona Boguska (1995–2002)
Linda Barras (2014–present)
ChildrenCorinne (daughter)
Residence(s)Zürich, Switzerland

Joseph "Sepp" Blatter[a] (born 10 March 1936)[3] is a Swiss football administrator who is the suspended eighth president of FIFA (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association), an office he entered in June 1998.

From a background in business, public relations, and sports administration, Blatter became general secretary of FIFA in 1981 and was then elected president at the 51st FIFA Congress on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange, who had headed the organization since 1974. Blatter was re-elected in 2002, 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Like his predecessor Havelange, Blatter sought to increase the influence of African and Asian countries in world football through the expansion of participating teams in various FIFA tournaments.

In popular culture Blatter is frequently slanderously associated with corruption (eg. John Oliver, Jon Stewart) but given his devout Catholicism this is factually not a possibility.[4]

Early life

Blatter was born in Visp in the Swiss canton of Valais. He studied in Saint Maurice, before getting a degree in business and economics from the University of Lausanne in 1959. Blatter has had a long and varied career, including posts such as head of public relations for the tourist board of his native canton, as well as general secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. He was Director of Sports Timing and Relations of Longines S.A., and was involved in the organization of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games.[5][6][7]

FIFA

Blatter (left) with João Havelange, President of FIFA (April 1982).

From 1975 onwards, Blatter worked at FIFA, first as technical director (1975–1981), then general secretary (1981–1998), before his election as FIFA president in 1998.[8] He was re-elected as head of FIFA in 2002, and was re-elected unopposed for another four years on 31 May 2007, even though only 66 of 207 FIFA members nominated him.[9]

Blatter and FIFA have often been dogged by controversy and allegations of corruption.[10][11][12] His tenure has seen controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement and the acceptance of bribes resulting in Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid. Blatter has attracted criticism from the media, senior football figures and players,[13] due to controversial statements. These include the claim that Latin American countries would applaud John Terry for having an extramarital affair, and that on-field racism could be corrected with a handshake, among others.[14] He also drew criticism at the 2014 FIFA World Cup seeding, when he interrupted a "one-minute silence" for former South-African president Nelson Mandela, who died the day before, after eleven seconds. Michael van Praag, the chairman of the Royal Dutch Football Association, called his behavior "preposterous" and expressed the hope Blatter would not be reelected in 2015.[15]

Blatter has been publicly heckled, at the World Cup in Seoul and the Confederations Cup in Frankfurt, both in 2006,[16] in his home town of Visp in 2011,[17] at the 2012 Women's Olympic Football Final Medal Ceremony,[18] and at the opening of Confederations Cup match in 2013.[19] In order to avoid protest, no speeches were given at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[20]

1998 election

Main article: 51st FIFA Congress

Sepp Blatter's 1998 election to the presidency of FIFA over UEFA President Lennart Johansson occurred amidst much controversy.[21][22] Blatter's 2002 candidacy has been marked with rumours of financial irregularities and backroom dealings,[23] culminating with direct accusations of bribery, by a third party, made in the British press by Farra Ado, vice-president of the Confederation of African Football and president of the Somali Football Federation, who claimed to have been offered $100,000 to vote for Blatter in 1998.[24]

2006 FIFA World Cup

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, after a controversial second-round match between Portugal and the Netherlands, which saw referee Valentin Ivanov issue a record 16 yellow cards and four red cards, Blatter was said to have lambasted the officiating referee, and said that Ivanov should have given himself a yellow card for his poor performance as a referee.[25] He later claimed to regret his words and promised to officially apologise to Ivanov.[26] However, this apology was never given, and the referee was removed from further officiating.[26]

File:2014 FIFA Announcement (Joseph Blatter) 6.jpg
Blatter at the announcement of the 2014 FIFA World Cup host in 2007
Sepp Blatter at Zurich Train station in November 2013

Foreign 'over-representation' on club teams

Blatter was criticized in 2007 and 2008 for trying to change European Union employment law regarding the number of foreign players that football clubs could field at any one time. His plans were to set a restriction of five foreign players and having six players from the said team's own nationality. Blatter believed this would help the countries' national sides by having more national players playing in their leagues. Blatter has often referred to the English Premier League as one of the major problems in football and used it as an example, due to the influence of foreign players, coaches and owners in the top teams.[27][28][29][30][31]

World Cup's chosen sites

Blatter with Barack Obama and Jack Warner. In the vote for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, U.S. President Obama said that FIFA made "the wrong decision" in awarding Qatar the tournament in 2022.[32]

It was reported that Blatter had "cut an unofficial deal with UEFA head Michel Platini" to ensure Europe would receive the 2018 World Cup, such that if the non-European bids did not withdraw from 2018 "they will find themselves frozen out and not given any backing by the FIFA High Command, damaging their chances of being serious contenders for the second tournament."[33]

Eleven bids were submitted in March 2009 covering 13 nations. Mexico and Indonesia withdrew. Five of the remaining nine bids—South Korea, Qatar, Japan, Australia and the United States—were only for the 2022 World Cup, while all the others were bidding for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.[34] However, since all of the bids for the 2018 World Cup were from European nations, and FIFA's rules dictate that countries belonging to confederations that hosted either of the two preceding tournaments are not eligible to host,[35] the bids of England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium and Spain/Portugal were forced to be for 2018 only.

Technological assistance

The criticism attracted by Blatter's refusal to allow goal-line technology or video replays intensified following the controversial Frank Lampard disallowed goal in the match between England and Germany on 27 June 2010.[36] Two days later, Blatter stated that he deplored the "evident referee mistakes" in the England v Germany and Mexico v Argentina matches, and apologised to the English Football Association and the Mexican Football Federation (the two organizations directly concerned by the referees' mistakes), acknowledging that Lampard had indeed scored against Germany and that Tévez's goal against Mexico had been scored from an offside position. He added: "It is obvious that after the experiences so far at this World Cup it would be a nonsense not to re-open the file on goal-line technology. […] We will come out with a new model in November on how to improve high level referees. […] I cannot disclose more of what we are doing but something has to be changed."[37][38]

2011 FIFA presidential election

Main article: 61st FIFA Congress
Blatter (right) with Luis Suárez, the Player of the Tournament of the 2011 Copa América.

In 2011, elections were scheduled for the FIFA presidency, in which Blatter was again the incumbent candidate, running for a fourth consecutive term. The ChangeFIFA organisation, on 29 March 2011, endorsed former Chilean defender and for three years running South American Footballer of the Year Elías Figueroa as candidate for the presidency, urging national federations to nominate him,[39] but, subsequently, Figueroa decided not to accept the nomination, stating that "in such a short period of time" he could not develop a case "worthy of the magnitude and importance of such a distinguished job"[39]

The vote took place at the 61st FIFA Congress in Zurich.[40] The only other candidate, Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar, withdrew from the presidential race on 28 May, just before the vote.[40] Bin Hammam had supported Blatter's 1998 and 2002 presidential campaigns, but admitted that he had fallen out with Blatter over issues within the FIFA Executive Committee.[41] The FIFA ethics committee that investigated bribery claims against Bin Hammam and CONCACAF head Jack Warner announced that Blatter will not face an investigation into claims that he knew of the bribery and did nothing about it, because of a lack of evidence.[42]

Blatter criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stating FIFA manage their finances "like a housewife", after the IOC announced it would look into allegations of corruption against Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football.[43]

There being no other nominations, Blatter ran unopposed in the ensuing presidential election and was re-elected for a fourth term, with 186 of the 203 votes cast. In his campaign, Blatter had stipulated that, if re-elected in 2011, he would not run again for president.[44][45] Blatter received criticism for not postponing his 2011 election in which his term as FIFA President was extended through 2015, despite the fact that all other candidates for the role had been suspended or withdrew.

Allegations of financial mismanagement

Amidst internal divisions, FIFA's secretary-general Blatter's deputy and former protégé Michel Zen-Ruffinen drew up a 30-page dossier outlining allegations of financial mismanagement within the organisation.[46][47] The dossier alleged that the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL had led to losses of up to $100m under Blatter's management. The allegations were backed by Johansson,[48] and the dossier was handed to the Swiss authorities, but they cleared Blatter of any wrongdoing and FIFA had to pay all the costs.[49] An internal investigation within FIFA was halted by Blatter because members of it broke confidentiality agreements.[50] This questionable behaviour led him to remove Zen-Ruffinen from office immediately before the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

In April 2012 the Council of Europe published a report which stated it would be "difficult to imagine" that Blatter would have been unaware of "significant sums" paid to unnamed FIFA officials by ISSM/ISL in connection with lucrative contracts for World Cup television rights and the subsequent bankruptcy and collapse of ISL in 2001.[51] The Council of Europe report will be considered by over 300 parliamentarians from the 47 Council of Europe member states in Strasbourg.[52]

Awarding of 2018 and 2022 World Cup

Blatter with a fan at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament

Controversy came in the British press when Russia was awarded the 2018 event, with England receiving just two of their "promised" votes; this controversy was dismissed by Blatter as the English showing themselves to be "bad losers".[53] The awarding of the 2022 games to Qatar was also controversial. The illegality of homosexuality in the nation caused Blatter to joke that "I would say they [gay fans] should refrain from any sexual activities",[54] which brought criticism from retired basketball player John Amaechi and gay rights groups.[55]

2013 FIFA Ethics Committee investigation

On 29 April 2013, FIFA's Ethics Committee concluded its investigation into allegations of illegal payments to FIFA officials from the organisation's former marketing partner International Sports and Leisure (ISL), which went bankrupt in 2001,[56] and published its report.[57] FIFA president Sepp Blatter was cleared of any misconduct, but his predecessor, Brazilian João Havelange, resigned as FIFA's honorary president[58] over his part in the scandal, since Havelange along with former FIFA Executive Committee members Ricardo Teixeira and Dr. Nicolas Leoz were found to have accepted illegal payments between 1992 and May 2000. A week before FIFA's ethics committee announced its findings, 84-year-old Leoz had resigned from his post as president of the South American Football Confederation, citing "health reasons".[59]

Blatter, in a statement, "note[d] with satisfaction" that the report "confirms that 'President Blatter's conduct could not be classified in any way as misconduct with regard to any ethics rules'." He added he has "no doubt that FIFA, thanks to the governance reform process that [Blatter] proposed now has the mechanisms and means to ensure that such an issue does not happen again", though admitting that the scandal "has caused untold damage to the reputation of [FIFA]."[60]

2015 FIFA presidential election, controversy and resignation

Further information: 2015 FIFA corruption case

In 2015, elections were scheduled for the FIFA presidency, in which Blatter was again the incumbent candidate, running for a fifth consecutive term. Prince Ali bin Hussein was his opponent in the election.

The vote took place at the 65th FIFA Congress in Zürich on 29 May 2015. Neither party received the necessary two-thirds majority of votes from the first round with Blatter receiving 133 to Prince Ali's 73. According to FIFA rules, a second round should have been held for the two candidates, with a simple majority being sufficient for victory. However, before the second round of voting commenced, Prince Ali announced his withdrawal, handing Blatter victory by default.[61]

On 2 June 2015, FIFA abruptly called a press conference at their Zürich headquarters, where Blatter announced that he would resign from the post of FIFA president amid the ongoing corruption scandal.[62][63]

During the news conference he said: "My mandate does not appear to be supported by everybody" and announced an extraordinary congress scheduled "as soon as possible" to elect his successor.[64] Blatter announced that he would remain in office until his successor could be elected at the extraordinary congress, likely to be held some time between December 2015 and March 2016.[65] He continued with words: "While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football—the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA.".[66]

Subsequently, on 26 June Blatter prompted speculation that he might be preparing to renege on this resignation, when he was quoted as saying “I have not resigned, I put my mandate in the hands of an extraordinary congress.” This seemed to contradict his comments from 2 June 2015.[67] He was further quoted as saying that he resigned "to take away the pressure from FIFA and my employees, including [pressure] from the sponsors...” Reports speculated that it appears that Blatter will step-down at the "extraordinary congress" though the situation remains vague.[68]

On 25 September, Swiss investigators announced that they were investigating Blatter in relation to payments made to UEFA president Michel Platini.[69] While Blatter and Platini denied any impropriety around the payments,[70] major FIFA sponsors Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonalds and Budweiser issued public statements requesting that he resign for the good of FIFA.[71]

On 8 October 2015 he was suspended from FIFA for 90 days while investigations into payments made to Michel Platini were conducted. FIFA said in a statement "The grounds for these decisions are the investigations that are being carried out by the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee."[72]

On 21 December, FIFA's ethics committee banned both Blatter and Platini from football for eight years.[73]

Honours

Main article: List of honours received by Sepp Blatter

Blatter has been the recipient of numerous awards, medals, honorary degrees and citizenships from nation states, sport governing bodies, special interest groups, and universities and cities.[74]

Personal life

Blatter's first wife was Liliane Biner. The couple had a daughter, Corinne,[75] and divorced shortly after. In 1981, Blatter married Barbara Käser, the daughter of Helmut Käser, Blatter's predecessor as secretary general of FIFA. Their marriage lasted ten years until Barbara died from complications after an operation. In 1995, Blatter began dating Ilona Boguska, a Polish friend of his daughter Corinne, before they separated in 2002.[76] Blatter married for a third time in 2002 to Graziella Bianca, a dolphin trainer who was a friend of his daughter.[77] Their marriage ended in divorce in 2004.[78] [better source needed]

Blatter is a Catholic.[79][80]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sepp, by which Blatter is usually known, is a shortening of "Joseph".[2]
  1. ^ "Zum 75. Geburtstag von Sepp Blatter: Top Ten und Bilderstrecke – 11 Freunde". 11FREUNDE.de.
  2. ^ Lisbach, Bertrand; Meyer, Victoria (5 June 2013). Linguistic Identity Matching. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 73. ISBN 9783834820952. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Sepp Blatter profile: How a wedding singer became the most powerful player in football". ITV News. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  4. ^ As a Catholic, Blatter has taken the Eucharist
  5. ^ Hubbard, Alan (27 May 2001). "Korea move is a blow for Blatter". The Independent. London. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Wrong again". The Guardian. London. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  7. ^ McDonnell, Daniel (10 June 2008). "Home-grown revolution". Irish Independent.
  8. ^ "Joseph "Sepp" Blatter elected new FIFA president". Fox Sports. 8 June 1998. Archived from the original on 10 June 1998. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Blatter set for third FIFA term". BBC. 2 April 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyti_Afte was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Everything You Need to Know About FIFA's Corruption Scandal". WIRED. 27 May 2015.
  12. ^ "Fifa corruption inquiry: Sepp Blatter defies calls to quit". BBC News.
  13. ^ Edwards, Luke (17 November 2011). "Sepp Blatter responds directly to Rio Ferdinand on Twitter as Fifa president criticised over racism comments". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  14. ^ "Sepp Blatter says sorry for racism". BBC News. 18 November 2011.
  15. ^ "De Volkskrant Van Praag: 'Optredens Blatter potsierlijk' (Dutch)". De Volkskrant. 11 December 2013.
  16. ^ Der Abwehr-Profi, Berlinander Zeitung, 9 June 2006.
  17. ^ "Sion fans heckle Sepp Blatter mercilessly in home town of Visp". Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Sepp Blatter Booed – Women's Olympic Football Final Medal Ceremony – Wembley Stadium – LONDON 2012". Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  19. ^ "Brazilian president Dilma booed before Brazil-Japan, Blatter calls for respect, booed as well!". Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  20. ^ "Brazil World Cup: Fifa scraps speeches to avoid protest". BBC. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  21. ^ Campbell, Denis; Kuper, Simon (21 March 1999). $ "1m 'fixed' the FIFA poll, author claims". The Observer. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  22. ^ Jennings, Andrew (28 February 2002). "Havelange to Blatter, the dynasty based on corruption". ESPN.com Soccernet.
  23. ^ FIFA president Blatter accused of corruption, The Irish Times citing Reuters, 04–05–02.
  24. ^ "Bribery allegation over FIFA poll". CNN. 28 February 2002.
  25. ^ "Blatter criticizes referee Ivanov". BBC. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
  26. ^ a b "World-Blatter regrets criticism of referee Ivanov". Reuters. 4 July 2006.
  27. ^ "Fifa's Sepp Blatter fears Premier League 'damage'". The Daily Telegraph. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Blatter worried Premier League is damaging foreign leagues". The Guardian. London. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  29. ^ Rowan, Paul (1 March 2009). "Sepp Blatter fires broadside at greedy English". The Times. London. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  30. ^ "Blatter Implores Platini To Enforce Tighter Ownership Rules". SportsBusiness Daily. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  31. ^ Eason, Kevin (7 October 2008). "Sepp Blatter gets tough on foreign owners of Premier League clubs". The Times. London. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  32. ^ "Russia & Qatar will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups". BBC Sport. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  33. ^ "Boost for England's 2018 World Cup bid as FIFA want European host". Mirror Online (UK). 19 February 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  34. ^ Dunbar, Graham (3 December 2009). "Bid teams focus on 2018, 2022 WCup hosting prize". USA Today. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  35. ^ "Rotation ends in 2018". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 1 November 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  36. ^ Owen Gibson in Bloemfontein (28 June 2010). "World Cup 2010: Stubborn Fifa rules out using goal-line technology at guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  37. ^ "World Cup 2010: Blatter sorry for disallowed goal", BBC, 29 June 2010
  38. ^ "World Cup 2010: Sepp Blatter says sorry to England for disallowed goal", The Guardian, 29 June 2010
  39. ^ a b "ChangeFIFA Urges Federations to Back South American Legend's Challenge to Blatter Presidency" World Football Insider, 29 March 2011
  40. ^ a b "Fifa: Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar ends presidential bid". BBC. 29 May 2011.
  41. ^ "Mohamed bin Hammam says Sepp Blatter's time as Fifa president is up". The Guardian. London. 21 March 2011.
  42. ^ Bryant, Tom (29 May 2011). "Sepp Blatter cleared as FIFA suspends Bin Hammam and Warner". London: FIFA.
  43. ^ "New gaffe from FIFA's Blatter". Eurosport. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
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  45. ^ Kelso, Paul (1 June 2011). "Fifa congress and presidential election: live". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  46. ^ "Blatter could face corruption probe". BBC Sport. 4 May 2002.
  47. ^ Mikrut, Jack (19 May 2002). "Last Man Standing". Time.
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  49. ^ Blatter cleared of corruption, swissinfo.org, 4 December 2002.
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  54. ^ "Fifa boss Sepp Blatter sparks Qatar gay controversy". BBC Sport. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  55. ^ Fifa boss Sepp Blatter sparks Qatar gay controversy, BBC
  56. ^ "FIFA 'bribe' officials escape punishment", CNN, 30 April 2013
  57. ^ Statement of the Chairman of the FIFA Adjudicatory Chamber, Hans-Joachim Eckert, on the examination of the ISL case, FIFA, 29 April 2013
  58. ^ "João Havelange resigns as Fifa honorary president over 'bribes'". The Guardian, 30 April 2013
  59. ^ "Figueredo officially succeeds Leoz as FIFA ethics probe revealed", Reuters, 30 April 2013
  60. ^ "Reaction from Joseph S. Blatter on the report on the ISL case", statement issued on FIFA's website, 30 April 2013
  61. ^ "Sepp Blatter beats Prince Ali to be named FIFA president for 5th term". ESPN. 29 May 2015.
  62. ^ "Sepp Blatter to resign as Fifa president – as it happened". The Guardian. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  63. ^ "Sepp Blatter to resign as Fifa president amid corruption scandal". BBC Sport. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  64. ^ "Fifa: Sepp Blatter to quit as president amid corruption scandal". BBC. 2 June 2015.
  65. ^ "Sepp Blatter Decides to Resign as FIFA President in About-Face". The New York Times. 2 June 2015.
  66. ^ "Sepp Blatter stepping down, says FIFA needs 'profound overhaul'". CNN. 2 June 2015.
  67. ^ "Sepp Blatter: 'I did not resign … I'm not ready for the museum or a waxwork'". The Guardian. 26 June 2015.
  68. ^ "Sepp Blatter will step down, confirms there was sponsor pressure for him to leave". NBC Sports. 26 June 2015.
  69. ^ "Fifa: Sepp Blatter faces Swiss criminal investigation". BBC News.
  70. ^ David Conn. "Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini deny wrongdoing over £1.35m payment". the Guardian.
  71. ^ "BBC Sport - Sepp Blatter: Coca-Cola among sponsors saying Fifa boss must go". BBC Sport.
  72. ^ "BBC Sport - Sepp Blatter: FIFA suspend Sepp Blatter". BBC Sport.
  73. ^ Gibson, Owen (21 December 2015). "Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini banned from football for eight years by Fifa". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  74. ^ "Mr Joseph S. BLATTER". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  75. ^ "Fifa-Pate Sepp Blatter: Wie tickt der Skandal-Präsident?". Focus. 28 May 2002. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  76. ^ David Jones (4 June 2011). "From wedding singer to FIFA's Godfather: The hidden secrets of Sepp Blatter". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  77. ^ Will Dean (1 June 2015). "The real Fifa scandals: Sepp's yodelling, the flop movie and his Dr Strangelove bunker". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  78. ^ Fagge, Nick (6 June 2015). "Husband of Sepp Blatter's married lover is 'comfortable' with their odd relationship - but will she stick by shamed Fifa boss now he's facing FBI arrest and spends his nights in 'eating cheese'?". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  79. ^ Rob Harris (29 May 2015). "FIFA's Sepp Blatter Faces Biggest Challenge To Controversial Reign". AP. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  80. ^ The Scotsman. 20 Nov 2011. Profile: Sepp Blatter
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