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FIFA President Sepp Blatter Wins New Term Amid Corruption 'Storm' in Zurich

FIFA's embattled president Sepp Blatter was elected to an fifth term, two days after allegations surfaced of corruption by high-ranking officials.
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Sepp Blatter secured a new four-year term on Friday as president of FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, in a vote taken two days after American prosecutors unveiled sweeping corruption charges against his subordinates.

"I like you. I like my job," Blatter told delegates after the vote at the FIFA annual meeting in Zurich. “I'm not perfect. Nobody is perfect. But we will do a good job together, I'm sure."

The delegates gave him a standing ovation.

Blatter won a fifth term in office after his only challenger, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, stepped aside during the second round of voting. In the first round, Blatter had fallen just short of the two-thirds supermajority he needed to win.

“I want to thank in particular all of you who were brave enough to support me,” Ali told the delegates.

Blatter, 79, had been widely expected to win. Most of the soccer associations from Africa, Asia and North and South America had declared their support for Blatter.

He was not mentioned in the 165-page federal indictment announced by U.S. officials on Wednesday, alleging a years-long scheme in which executives received more than $150 million in kickbacks.

He has repeatedly denied knowledge of any wrongdoing, but said in his speech before the vote that he would "accept responsibility to fix FIFA together with you."

Speaking to the congress before the vote, he said: "We don’t need revolutions, but we always need evolutions. I am being held accountable for the current storm. OK, I will shoulder it."

He told the audience: "You know me already. I don’t need to introduce myself to you. You know who you’re dealing with. I also know I can count on you. We need to recover our good name. We will start tomorrow morning with this goal in mind."

Prince Ali appeared to make reference during his speech to Blatter's attempts to distance himself from what has been the worst crisis to hit FIFA in its 111-year history.

"I will not hide among your ranks when times are bad, stepping forward when times are good," he told the congress. "I promise to throw open the doors of FIFA house."