Sepp Blatter

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Sepp Blatter
Sepp Blatter in 2009
Born	March 10, 1936 (1936-03-10) (age 73) Valais, Switzerland
Nationality	Swiss
Occupation	President of FIFA
Salary	Unknown
Spouse(s)	Graziella Bianca (December 2002 - 2004)
Children	Corinne Blatter

Joseph "Sepp" Blatter^[1] (born 10 March 1936) is the eighth and current President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding Dr. João Havelange.

[edit] Biography

Sepp Blatter studied in Sion, Switzerland before receiving a degree in business and economics from the University of Lausanne in 1959.

Blatter has a long and varied history including posts such as Head of Public Relations of the Valaisan Tourist Board in his native Switzerland, 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. In the early 1970s, Blatter was elected president of the World Society of Friends of Suspenders, an organisation who tried to stop women replacing suspender belts with pantyhose.^{[2] [3][4]}

Blatter first made his name in the world of football in 1973 as Chairman of the Zurich Brown Shirts.^[5] Since 1975 Blatter has been working at FIFA, first as Technical Director (1975-1981), then General Secretary (1981-1998) before his election as FIFA President in 1998. 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.^[6].Sepp Blatter is seeking another term as FIFA president as of December 2009. Due to allegations of corruption and a history of a secret management ^[7] , Sepp Blatter and the current make up of FIFA are opposed by many public groups such as FIFA Reformation, a Facebook Group.

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Allegations of corruption

Sepp Blatter's 1998 election to the presidency of FIFA over UEFA President Lennart Johansson occurred amidst much controversy.^[8][9] His 2002 candidacy has been marked with rumours of financial irregularities and backroom dealings,^[10] culminating with direct accusations of bribery, by a third party, made in the British press by the Farra Ado, vice-president of the CAF and president of the Somalian football association, who claimed to have been offered $100,000 to vote for Blatter in 1998.^[11]

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.^[12][13] 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,^[14] and the dossier was handed to the Swiss authorities, but they cleared him of any wrong doing and FIFA had to pay all the costs.^[15] An internal investigation within FIFA was halted by Blatter because members of it broke confidentiality agreements.^[16] Zen-Ruffinen was removed from office by Blatter immediately before the FIFA World Cup 2002.^[17]

[edit] 2006 FIFA World Cup

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup final in Germany, Blatter's absence during the prize-podium event was noted and criticized in international media. It was claimed that the reason Blatter did not attend was because he was upset that Italy won instead of France. ^[18]

After a controversial second-round match between Portugal and the Netherlands, which saw referee Valentin Ivanov issuing a record 16 yellow cards and four red cards, Blatter lambasted the officiating, and said that Ivanov should have given himself a yellow card for his poor performance as a referee.^[19] However he later regretted his words and promised to officially apologise to Ivanov.^[20]

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup

Blatter publically laughed at a request by the FAI that Ireland be the 33rd entrant following a controversial hand ball incident in their qualification match.^[21]

[edit] Women's football

Blatter incurred the ire of women footballers in 2004 when he suggested that women should "wear tighter shorts and low cut shirts... to create a more female aesthetic", and attract more male fans ^[22] remarks which were ridiculed in the press.

[edit] Foreign Quotas

Blatter incurred much criticism during 2007 and 2008 for his persistence in attempting to change EU employment law regarding the number of foreign players football clubs can field at any one time. His plans are to set a restriction to 5 foreign players and having 6 players from the said team's own nationality. Blatter believes 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 uses it as an example, due to the influence of foreign players, coaches and owners in the top teams.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Changes to the game made under Blatter

• The "silver goal" replaced the "golden goal" rule in extra time of play-off matches. Under the "golden goal" rule, the match ends immediately one side scores in extra time. The "silver goal" rule states that the match will end at the half-time period in extra time if one team is leading – otherwise the match will continue until the end of the extra time period. Some fans believe that this rule change makes the game less exciting, while others felt that the game is more fair as a result. The new rule was first applied in the Euro 2004 competition, but it has since been discontinued along with golden goal. All competitions have now reverted to the traditional extra time rules, i.e. they must play the full amount of extra time, no matter what the score is.
• After the 2002 World Cup, the current World Cup champion no longer automatically qualifies for the next World Cup finals, as was the case for the champions of all 16 previous World Cups.
• National associations must now enforce immediate suspensions of all players sent off during a game, even if television replays offer compelling evidence of a player's innocence. In particular, Blatter insists that a referee's judgement must be seen as final and that mistakes are part of the game. The FA, however, has refused to follow this directive, and allows appeals against straight red cards (though not those resulting from two yellows).
• Under Blatter, starting in 2004, the game implemented the booking of players who remove their shirts after scoring a goal, as well as those who are guilty of 'over-zealous celebrations'. The rationale for this rule change is that football is a global sport, and thus the sensibilities of conservative nations and spectators must be respected.
• In 2007, Blatter decided that no football matches will be played above 2500 metres (8200 ft) above sea level. This arbitrary number was revised to 3000 metres on 26 June 2007. This may have been aimed to split the opposition group formed by Colombia, Ecuador (who play at altitudes below 3000 metres but above 2500), Bolivia and Peru (with stadia above 3000 metres). This has dramatic consequences for the Bolivian national team, whose stadium is located more than 3000 metres above sea level. Blatter commented that football matches at extreme altitudes belong to the past, and that they are risky for players' health. However, no comprehensive medical studies have been shown to prove this. The Andean nations argue that playing in hot, sea level temperature is in fact more dangerous, citing the death of Marc-Vivien Foé as an example.

[edit] Honours

• Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Morocco) ^[23]
• Order of the Rising Sun (Japan), 2009 ^[23]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FIFA President's page on official website of FIFA
• Excerpt from 'Foul' by Andrew Jennings
• 2002 Observer article outlining criticism of Blatter
• TIME Europe article on Zen-Ruffinen's allegations