"current or former FIFA executives, including FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb. All faced extradition to the United States. On the same day, the Swiss attorney general's office said that other FIFA executives were being questioned on suspicion of ""criminal mismanagement"" and money laundering. On 2 June 2015 a letter was published, claiming that Jérôme Valcke was party to a potential bribe paid to former FIFA executive Jack Warner in relation to votes for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Despite his win just four days previously, Sepp Blatter announced his resignation as FIFA President. The following day, South Africa"
"to dismiss Jérôme Valcke as FIFA Secretary General and to terminate his employment relationship. On 26 February 2016, an extraordinary FIFA Congress was held and elected UEFA Secretary General Gianni Infantino as the new president of FIFA while also passing a major reform package. On 29 May 2015 Sepp Blatter won re-election to the FIFA presidency at the 65th FIFA Congress in Zurich amid growing criticism over his position. Four days later, however, he announced that he would continue as president only until a new election would be conducted at a 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress on 26 February 2016. Blatter"
"Sepp Blatter Joseph ""Sepp"" Blatter (born 10 March 1936) is a Swiss football administrator who was the eighth President of the FIFA (French: ""Fédération Internationale de Football Association"") from 1998 to 2015. He is currently serving a six-year ban from participating in FIFA activities. 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 reelected in 2002, 2007, 2011, and 2015. Like his predecessor Havelange, Blatter"
"divorce in 2004. Since 2014, he is in a domestic partnership with Linda Barras. Blatter was raised as a Catholic. Sepp Blatter Joseph ""Sepp"" Blatter (born 10 March 1936) is a Swiss football administrator who was the eighth President of the FIFA (French: ""Fédération Internationale de Football Association"") from 1998 to 2015. He is currently serving a six-year ban from participating in FIFA activities. 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"
"and five corporate executives on charges including racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering in May 2015, Gill threatened to resign his newly elected FIFA role if Sepp Blatter was re-elected as FIFA President or did not stand down. Blatter won re-election for a fifth term, and Gill immediately rejected his role as a FIFA Vice-President and a member of the Executive Committee in protest at Blatter's regime. ""I simply do not see how there will be change for the good of world football while Mr Blatter remains in post"" Gill stated. On 2 June, four days after FIFA's 65th FIFA"
"of the magnitude and importance of such a distinguished job"". In the 2011 elections, incumbent Sepp Blatter, who has been FIFA president for 13 years, won a mandate for another 4-year term, by a margin of 172 votes to 17, with 17 abstaining. On 2 June 2015, Sepp Blatter resigned as president of FIFA in the wake of corruption indictments of FIFA officials. ChangeFIFA ChangeFIFA was a campaign organisation, established in 2010 with the stated aim of making FIFA, the ruling body of world soccer, more ""fair and accountable"". The organisation was created in June 2010 by English fan Oliver"
"2015 FIFA Presidency election to Sepp Blatter after resigning before second round voting took place. Blatter secured 60 more votes than Ali in the first round of voting, shy of the two thirds majority required to win in the first round, though with only a simple majority required in subsequent rounds Ali's defeat appeared to be inevitable. However, following Blatter's announcement in June 2015 that he would resign from the post of FIFA president amid the ongoing corruption scandal, Ali announced in September 2015 that he would run for FIFA president again in the 2016 special election. Ali finished third"
"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]."" In 2015, elections were scheduled for the FIFA presidency, in which Blatter was again the incumbent candidate, running for a fifth consecutive term. Prince"
"that he must stay vigilant and that in the job ""friends become rare"". 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress The 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress was held at the Hallenstadion in Zürich, Switzerland, on 26 February 2016. This special session of the FIFA Congress, called as a result of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, included the passage of a major statutory reforms proposal as well as the election of Gianni Infantino to replace Sepp Blatter as the President of FIFA. Amid a major corruption scandal at FIFA, incumbent Sepp Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term as FIFA President during the 65th FIFA"
"workers' conditions in football stadiums. He stated he would not seek reelection if elected. On 21 May 2015, just a few days before the elections, he announced his withdrawal from FIFA presidential race in order to support Ali bin Hussein, stating he believed he had the best shot at the presidency. Candidate Luís Figo did the same. Blatter was however reelected, although he had to resign four days after the election because of corruption allegations. Later that year, he became Vice President of the UEFA, named by President Michel Platini. On 14 September 2016, Van Praag received 13 votes to"
"(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. 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. 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"
"2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress The 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress was held at the Hallenstadion in Zürich, Switzerland, on 26 February 2016. This special session of the FIFA Congress, called as a result of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, included the passage of a major statutory reforms proposal as well as the election of Gianni Infantino to replace Sepp Blatter as the President of FIFA. Amid a major corruption scandal at FIFA, incumbent Sepp Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term as FIFA President during the 65th FIFA Congress on 29 May 2015, defeating Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan. On"
"the FIFA Executive Committee (ExCo) if Sepp Blatter was re elected as FIFA President or did not stand down, following the corruption scandal. When Blatter won re election for a fifth term, Gill immediately rejected his position in protest at Blatter's regime. ""I simply do not see how there will be change for the good of world football while Mr Blatter remains in post"" Gill stated. On June 2, 2015, four days after FIFA's presidential election, Blatter announced he would be resigning, allowing Gill to ""reconsider"" his position as he had not yet formalised his resignation. During the morning of"
"such as the presidency. The deadline for candidates to formally present their nominations, with support of at least of five national federations, was 26 October 2015, 23:59 CET (22:59 GMT). Sepp Blatter was also a likely candidate, despite him saying that ""I will not be a candidate for the election in 2016."" Blatter previously said that he is ""not resigning"" before the announcement of the election date. On 28 October 2015, FIFA announced the names of the seven candidates to replace Sepp Blatter as its president. On 9 November 2015, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee admitted and declared five candidates eligible"
"and money laundering, Blatter announced that he would call for elections to choose a new president of FIFA and that he would not stand in these elections, but he also said he would remain in his position until an extraordinary FIFA Congress could be held for his successor to be elected. Criminal proceedings were announced against Blatter by the Swiss Attorney General's office on 25 September 2015, regarding ""criminal mismanagement... and misappropriation"". In October 2015, Blatter and other top FIFA officials were suspended amid the investigation, and in December the independent FIFA Ethics Committee ejected Blatter from office and banned"
"said that he would not be a candidate for election at that time. Blatter maintained ""I did not resign, I put myself and my office in the hands of the FIFA congress."" Upon the decision of the FIFA Adjudicatory Chamber of the Independent Ethics Committee to provisionally ban Blatter, FIFA recognizes Issa Hayatou as the interim president of FIFA in accordance with article 32 (6) of the FIFA Statutes. On 10 June 2015, FIFA announced that they would be delaying the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding process, amidst allegations surrounding bribery in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes."
"Sepp Blatter in the 2015 FIFA presidential election. Van Praag stated, ""I am very worried about the deteriorating situation at FIFA. The public opinion, the trustworthiness, is very bad, and with me a lot of people in the world believe so."" He was seen as a consensus and reliable candidate, supporting a limitation of the powers attributed to the FIFA President. He campaigned on the publication of the Garcia Report and a new Executive Committee vote if the 2022 World Cup attribution corruption allegations were to be proved. He also advocated for less bureaucracy in Zurich and a regulation of"
"that I love to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals. The game itself and the people who love it around the world must come first."" The incumbent President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter ran for a fourth consecutive term, having been elected in 1998, and reelected in 2002 and 2007. On 13 May Blatter warned that FIFA would be plunged into ""a black hole"" if Bin Hammam won the election. Of the vote Blatter said that ""The ballot could lead to a seismic shift with irreversible damage...Quite simply, the survival of FIFA is"
"where Blatter announced that he would resign from the post of FIFA president amid the ongoing corruption scandal. 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. 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. He continued with words: ""While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a"
"misrepresents his findings. On the morning of 27 May 2015, seven FIFA officials were arrested just before the start of the 65th FIFA Congress. Two days later Sepp Blatter comfortably defeated Prince Ali bin Hussein to remain as President of FIFA. David Gill threatened to resign his newly elected role as FIFA Vice-President and member of the FIFA Executive Committee. Later on 27 May, former FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner surrendered himself to police in his native Trinidad, where a court granted him bail. He spent a night in custody while bail was processed. On 31 May he posted a self-defence"
"Zurich hotel where seven FIFA officials had been arrested in May 2015. Hours later, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed an additional 16 indictments for criminal schemes; as well, former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb pleaded guilty to money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering. On 21 December, the FIFA Ethics Committee banned both Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for eight years from all football-related activity organised by FIFA after being found guilty of a £1.3 million ($2 million) ""disloyal payment"" made to Platini in 2011. Blatter said he would appeal the verdict. On 9 January 2016, the FIFA Emergency Committee decided"
"match. Following the 2015 FIFA corruption case, the current president of UEFA, Michel Platini, was also involved himself in the case. Swiss prosecutors accuse FIFA president Sepp Blatter of making a ""disloyal payment"" of $2m (£1.6m) to Mr Platini. Swiss attorney general, Michael Lauber, stated: ""We didn't interview Mr Platini as a witness, that's not true. We investigated against him in between as a witness and an accused person"". Both Platini and Sepp Blatter are currently under formal investigation by FIFA's independent ethics committee. On 8 October 2015, Platini was provisionally suspended for 90 days from any football-related activity. Annual"
"leadership with corruption, bribery, and vote-rigging related to the election of FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the organization's decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. These allegations led to the indictments of nine high-ranking FIFA officials and five corporate executives by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges including racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering. On 27 May 2015, several of these officials were arrested by Swiss authorities, who were launching a simultaneous but separate criminal investigation into how the organization awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Those among these officials who"
"games, with FIFA officials accused of taking bribes totaling more than $150 million over 24 years. In late May, the U.S. Justice Department announced a 47-count indictment with charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy against 14 people. Arrests of over a dozen FIFA officials were made since that time, particularly on 29 May and 3 December. By the end of May 2015, a total of nine FIFA officials and five executives of sports and broadcasting markets had already been charged on corruption. At the time, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced he would relinquish his position in February"
"account. FIFA commissioned former United States Attorney Michael J. Garcia to investigate and report on the bidding processes behind the awarding of the 2018 FIFA World Cup to Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar. In November 2014, FIFA made a copy of Garcia's report available to the Attorney General of Switzerland, who then stated that there were ""grounds for suspicion that, in isolated cases, international transfers of assets with connections to Switzerland took place which merit examination by the criminal prosecution authorities"". Sepp Blatter had been president of FIFA since 1998 (until his removal in December 2015)."
"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"". Subsequently, on 26 June Blatter prompted speculation that he might be preparing to renege on this resignation, when he was quoted as saying that ""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. He was further quoted as saying that he resigned ""to take away the pressure from FIFA and my employees, including [pressure] from the"
"propose. Beckenbauer would later receive a 90-day ban from any football-related activity from FIFA after refusing to cooperate in the investigation of bribery. The notion of holding the Cup during Europe's winter was further boosted by UEFA President Michel Platini's indicating that he was ready to rearrange the European club competitions accordingly. Platini's vote for the summer 2022 World Cup went to Qatar. FIFA President Sepp Blatter also said that despite air-conditioned stadiums the event was more than the games itself and involved other cultural events. In this regard, he questioned if fans and players could take part in the"
"sought to increase the influence of African and Asian countries in world football through the expansion of participating teams in various FIFA tournaments. He has persistently been dogged by claims of corruption and financial mismanagement. Blatter's reign oversaw a vast expansion in revenues generated by the FIFA World Cup accompanied by the collapse of the marketing company International Sport and Leisure and numerous allegations of corruption in the bidding processes for the awarding of FIFA tournaments. On 2 June 2015, six days after the United States government indicted several current and former FIFA officials and sports marketing companies for bribery"
"him from taking part in any FIFA activities over the following eight years. On 24 February 2016, a FIFA appeals committee upheld the suspension but reduced it from eight years to six. Issa Hayatou served as the acting President of FIFA until an extraordinary FIFA Congress was held in late February, electing Gianni Infantino as the 9th president of FIFA. Blatter was born in Visp in the Swiss canton of Valais with the given name of ""Josef"". He studied in Saint Maurice, before getting a degree in business and economics from the University of Lausanne in 1959. Blatter has had"
"congress Blatter said ""I thought that we were living in a world of fair play, mutual respect and discipline...this is not the case any longer...because our pyramid of FIFA is suddenly unstable on its basis and there's a danger."" Allegations of vote buying in the 2011 FIFA presidential election were included in the 2015 FIFA corruption case, which led to the arrests of fourteen FIFA and FIFA-related officials on 27 May 2015. These incitements were brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, as U.S. banks are alleged to have been used for money laundering and bribery. An ethics committee took"
"sponsors"". Reports speculated that it appears that Blatter will step down at the ""extraordinary congress"" though the situation remains vague. On 25 September, Swiss investigators announced that they were investigating Blatter in relation to payments made to UEFA president Michel Platini. While Blatter and Platini denied any impropriety around the payments, major FIFA sponsors Coca-Cola, Visa Inc., McDonald's, and Budweiser issued public statements requesting that he resign for the good of FIFA. 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"
"sad and left."" On 27 May 2015, fourteen top football officials – including executive committee members – were arrested in Switzerland on corruption charges. Executives Webb, Warner, and Figueredo as well as Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin, and Nicolás Leoz all faced extradition to the United States for violation of federal law. Following the 2015 FIFA corruption case, newly elected British FIFA Vice-President and Executive Committee board member David Gill threatened to resign his role if Sepp Blatter was re-elected as FIFA President for a fifth term in protest at his leadership. Blatter was"
"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. 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. He was re-elected as head of FIFA in 2002, and was re-elected unopposed for another four years on 31 May"