Joseph Blatter will be the president of football's world governing body for four more years. Will they be more of the same? Inas Mazhar tries to find out It's not over yet for Joseph Blatter and FIFA. Following a torrid week of accusations and counterattacks over bribes and fixed votes, Blatter was re-elected president, not to anyone's surprise for he was after all standing alone after his rival for the presidency Mohamed Bin Hammam, pulled out of the race. Bin Hammam was suspended by FIFA for allegedly bribing CONCACAF officials so that he be elected president. Blatter did promise to work hard in his next term to restore the image and credibility of FIFA which has recently taken a beating, most notably for the controversial selections of Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. According to some FIFA delegates, Blatter and FIFA face big challenges to bring things back to normal, the toughest being the battle with the media and opposition member associations who will continue fighting FIFA and Blatter, as well as those who are currently under investigation for taking bribes and who are fighting to prove their innocence. Blatter and FIFA have made enemies, energising rumours after the elections that Blatter will, in addition to working to fight corruption and the "devils" he often speaks of who lie within FIFA, avenge those who plotted against him: his former opponent and president of the Asian Football Confederation Bin Hammam and all those supported Bin Hammam, as well as the English media and the FA. They are all on Blatter's blacklist. A repeat vote for the 2022 World Cup host nation, which is Qatar, is one question being most raised, though Blatter and his secretary-general have said there will be no re-vote which Germany has requested. The media in general, and the German press in particular, have started digging to prove that executive committee members were bribed to vote for Russia and Qatar. So, while Blatter will be trying to save FIFA, "his ship" as he described it, from "troubled waters" and lead it into "clear and transparent waters", others will be working hard to sink the organization. The 75-year-old Blatter was re-elected for a fourth term by the 61st FIFA Congress in Zurich last week. A majority 186 member associations voted in favour of the incumbent who will remain at the head of world football's governing body for the next four years. In total, 203 ballots were cast in an election conducted by secret ballot. Though Blatter was the only candidate in the race, the elections still had to be held as a formality. The only question was whether the poll would be secret or by electronic ballot. Election by acclamation was ruled out. It took almost an hour to conduct the elections and count the votes. Blatter left the hall leaving it to First Vice President Julio Grandonna of Argentina to supervise the poll. Two booths were installed and countries by twos were called on to vote according to English alphabetical order. After the result was announced, Blatter re-entered the hall amidst huge applause from the congress. He said he was happy to win with such a majority, describing it as a message he wanted to deliver not only to Bin Hammam but to others who have criticised him in the last few months, especially the English, be it the English Football Association or the media. After the withdrawal of Bin Hammam, the English, who lost out to Russia for the right to host the 2018 World Cup, launched a campaign calling for delaying the elections until things became more stable within FIFA. The chairman of England's FA, David Bernstein, had put a proposal to congress to delay the vote but 172 of 206 voters opted against a postponement. Addressing the FIFA Congress, Bernstein had asked for a delay "to allow time for an additional candidate or candidates to stand and compete in an open and fair election," describing the elections as a "one-horse race. "Only by doing so will the winner have proper credibility over the next four years." The English and Scottish FAs needed three-quarters of FIFA's congress to back their proposal but received little support, with Wales and Northern Ireland both choosing not to back a delay. Only a few, maybe no more than four, applauded Bernstein's address whereas the FA chairmen of Benin, DR Congo, Tahiti, Fiji and Cyprus received much applause when they appeared later and sang Blatter's praises and his achievements in FIFA. FIFA senior vice-president Julio Grondona, also president of the Argentina FA, followed the other delegates in praising Blatter and criticising the English, saying that FIFA has always been attacked by England. Grondona added that he thought that the English media was "always busy, lying than telling the truth." As Bernstein was leaving the stage, Blatter commented, "It looks like England is always complaining so please I say will you leave the FIFA family alone, and when you speak, speak with truth." But Bernstein later released a statement which defended the FA's stance and said they were encouraged by the support they received from other member associations as well as Blatter's speech which followed on from Bernstein's in which he promised to implement changes. After hearing Blatter, Bernstein said, "We believe the calls we have made for greater transparency and better governance have been worthwhile." As the world followed the congress meetings and the ensuing elections, Bin Hammam left Zurich after leaving behind a letter to FIFA in which he protested against the "unfair way he was treated by the FIFA Ethics Committee and the FIFA administration." Despite his explicit written request, he said he was not provided with the "motivated decision of his suspension in due course", was not able to file his appeal and was denied his last opportunity to get access to the FIFA Congress. In his letter, Bin Hammam stated 10 points which he said demonstrated very clearly that he was not getting a fair proceeding. "Most importantly, there was absolutely no justification for a suspension. The suspension was not necessary to conduct the investigation but constituted a grave violation of my reputation and created substantial damage without any necessity." Bin Hammam repeated: "I was punished before I was found guilty. "There are reasons to believe that the suspension was a solitary decision of the chairman and not the Ethics Committee. A solitary decision of the chairman is only possible in emergency situations, which was absolutely not the case here. The panel of the Ethics Committee was fully present." Bin Hammam said he did not understand why the Ethics Committee found the statements of a sole eyewitness truthful when it came to the allegations made against him but disregarded the written statements of 12 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials in his favour. "The behaviour of the FIFA general secretary at the media conference that followed the Ethics Committee investigation meeting was absolutely unacceptable and against all principles of justice. Sitting next to the chairman of the independent Ethics Committee, he abused the event to voice his personal opinions and to comment on the results," Bin Hammam said. Because of this "very unfair treatment," Bin Hammam reserved "all his rights, against this unprofessional and one-sided attitude, with the judicial bodies of FIFA and beyond." Bin Hammam concluded in his letter, "I am very sad and disappointed over what has happened in the last days. I will never accept how my name and my reputation have been damaged. I will fight for my rights. I thank all the people who have supported me during the last weeks and will support me further... good days bring you happiness, bad days bring you experience." Blatter, meanwhile, thanked the delegates for placing their trust in him. "I am honoured to accept the 61st FIFA Congress's mandate to serve as president during the 2011-2015 period. Together we can tackle the problems that football faces today and show that our game remains very solid and strong," he said. Blatter spoke about the need for transparency and "zero tolerance" in the fight against the dangers that threaten football. The member associations approved Blatter's proposal that the congress will have the final vote to decide on the host of the FIFA World Cup and will have the power to elect the members of the FIFA Ethics Committee. As much as the FIFA members were happy with being granted the authority to select the World Cup host nation, the congress will have to wait until 2026 before selecting a host by which time the Congress members may no longer be around. However, most of the members agreed that this new proposal will definitely combat corruption. Said the chairman of the Liberia Football Association Musa Biliti to Al-Weekly, "You can't bribe 208 associations!" The congress also approved another proposal made by Blatter: the creation of a corporate governance and compliance committee composed of respected personalities from the football family, and possibly from other areas outside football, which will have the duty to investigate and suggest solutions to the problems they identify. Blatter said that, if required, an extraordinary congress would be convened in order to review the findings of this committee to restore FIFA's credibility. The 208 member associations of FIFA were all in attendance at the start of the congress, which approved the decision taken two days earlier by the FIFA Executive Committee to lift the suspensions on the football associations of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Brunei Darussalam. The associations of Brunei Darussalam and S�o Tomé e Pr�ncipe were not entitled to vote as they had not met the statutory requirements regarding minimum participation in FIFA competitions. Consequently, only 206 associations had the right to vote. At the start of the proceedings, the FIFA Congress approved its agenda for 2011, the minutes of the 2010 congress in Johannesburg, the 2010 FIFA Activity Report, FIFA's financial statements for 2007-2010, and the detailed budget for 2012. The details of these financial statements are contained in the FIFA financial report, which can be read on FIFA.com. The congress ratified a number of amendments to the FIFA statutes. Articles 73 and 78 to 80 were amended to have clearer provisions regarding the authorisation of international matches in order to protect the integrity of the game. An amendment to Article 5 was also approved in order to give a statutory basis to the "first-registered players" project proposed by FIFA in close cooperation with UEFA, which has the objective of protecting training clubs and young players, as well as the pool of players available for the representative teams, and encouraging the competitiveness and unpredictability of competitions. In addition, Article 14 was modified so as to allow for a member association that commits one single but severe infringement of its obligations as a member to be suspended. Articles 34 and 36 were amended to modify the name of the Internal Audit Committee to Audit Committee in order to better reflect the role of this committee as a body that reports to the congress. Moreover, outgoing FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-Joon was made honorary vice-president of FIFA by the congress, and outgoing Executive Committee members Junji Ogura, Franz Beckenbauer and Geoff Thompson were presented with a distinction. Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, David Chung and Jim Boyce were welcomed as new FIFA vice-presidents, and Manilal Fernando, Mohamed Raouraoua and Theo Zwanziger as new members of the FIFA Executive Committee, as elected this year by their respective confederations. Next year's FIFA Congress will take place in Budapest on 24 and 25 May.
