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Sepp Blatter | |
|---|---|
 Blatter in 2015 | |
| 8th President of FIFA | |
| In office 8 June 1998 – 21 December 2015 | |
| Preceded by | João Havelange |
| Succeeded by | Issa Hayatou (acting) Gianni Infantino |
| Secretary General of FIFA | |
| In office June 1981 – 8 June 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Helmut Käser |
| Succeeded by | Michel Zen-Ruffinen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Josef Blatter 10 March 1936 Visp, Valais, Switzerland |
| Spouse(s) | Liliane Biner (divorced) Barbara Käser
(m. 1981; died 1991)Graziella Bianca
(m. 2002; div. 2004) |
| Domestic partner(s) | Ilona Boguska (1995–2002) Linda Barras (2014–present) |
| Children | 1 |
| Residence(s) | Zürich, Switzerland |
| Alma mater | University of Lausanne |
| Signature |  |
Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of the FIFA corruption case made public that year, and will remain banned until 2027.
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.[1][2] Blatter was re-elected in 2002, 2007, 2011, and 2015. Like his predecessor Havelange, Blatter built his power base in FIFA by increasing the influence of numerous African and Asian countries in world football through the expansion of participating teams in various FIFA tournaments, culminating in the highly controversial awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a Gulf oil state of 3,000,000 people with little footballing culture. Under Blatter's leadership as president, eleven of the 22 committee members who voted on the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were fined, suspended, banned for life or prosecuted for corruption, including Blatter. Although 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 and money laundering,[1] 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.[2] Criminal proceedings were announced against Blatter by the Swiss Attorney General's office on 25 September 2015, regarding "criminal mismanagement... and misappropriation".[3][4]
In October 2015, Blatter and other top FIFA officials were suspended amid the investigation,[5] and in December the independent FIFA Ethics Committee ejected Blatter from office and banned him from taking part in any FIFA activities over the following eight years.[6] On 24 February 2016, a FIFA appeals committee upheld the suspension but reduced it from eight years to six.[7] On 24 March 2021, he received a second ban for six years and was fined the amount of CHF 1,000,000 by the body's Ethics Committee after a probe into massive bonus payments.[8] 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.[9]
- ^ Clifford, Stephanie; Apuzzo, Matt (27 May 2015). "After Indicting 14 Soccer Officials, U.S. Vows to End Graft in FIFA". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "FIFA President to lay down his mandate at extraordinary elective Congress". FIFA. 2 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "Criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA". Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Fifa: Sepp Blatter faces criminal investigation". BBC News Online. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ "FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Other Top Officials Suspended". The New York Times. 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ Evans, Simon (21 December 2015). "Blatter and Platini banned by FIFA for eight years". Reuters. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ^ "Sepp Blatter & Michel Platini lose Fifa appeals but bans reduced". BBC Sport. 24 February 2016. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ^ "Adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee sanctions Mr Joseph S. Blatter and Mr Jérôme Valcke". FIFA. 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Gianni Infantino elected FIFA President" (Press release). FIFA. 26 February 2016. Archived from the original on 27 February 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.