Sepp Blatter was re-elected unopposed for a fourth term as FIFA president on Wednesday, shrugging off the scandals that have hit world soccer’s governing body to secure another four years in charge. Blatter, the 75-year-old Swiss who has run FIFA since 1998, was voted in by an overwhelming majority, winning 186 votes of the 203 cast, and immediately pushed through changes intended the make the choice of World Cup hosts more democratic and beef up the fight against corruption. “I’m a happy man after these very, very hard weeks,” Blatter, who at the start of the day also defeated a proposal from the English FA to postpone the election, told reporters. Minutes after his re-election, delegates approved his suggestion that World Cup hosts should in future be chosen by the Congress from a short-list prepared by the 24-man executive committee. Under the current system, voting is restricted to the executive committee, which critics say leads to excessive lobbying and exchanges of favors. Congress also accepted a proposal to strengthen the ethics committee by separating the investigation and decision-making powers and another to create a new watchdog called the “solution committee”. Blatter, the eighth president in FIFA’s 107-year history, had been due to face Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohamed bin Hammam but the Qatari withdrew on Sunday amid cash-for-votes allegations. Bin Hammam was barred entry to the Congress hall, having been provisionally suspended by the ethics committee along with fellow executive committee Jack Warner. “I will never accept how my… [Read full story]
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