Sepp Blatter wins fifth term as Fifa president

In the first round of voting the 209 member states were choosing between re-electing Mr Blatter for a fifth term, or opting for the challenger, Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan.

In the first round of voting Mr Blatter got 133 votes compared with Prince Ali’s 73 votes. 140 votes were required to win the election in the first round.

This meant the voting went to a second round with the candidates needing a simple majority – 105 votes – to win. But Prince Ali decided to withdraw.

A host of football leaders from across Europe have called for Mr Blatter to either resign or be voted out after Swiss police carried out a dawn raid on Wednesday and arrested seven officials.

The US Department of Justice charged 18 people over alleged bribes totalling more than $150m paid for television rights, sponsorship deals and World Cup votes, with the payments allegedly transfered using American wire and banking facilities.

Mr Blatter, who faces Prince Ali of Jordan in the Fifa presidential election on Friday, said there had been a question mark over the congress taking place. Fifa also announced that the post-congress press conference will take place on Saturday morning.

‘Evolution, not revolution’

Mr Blatter promised to make changes to restore people’s faith, telling delegates: “We don’t need revolutions, we need evolutions. I’m being held accountable for the storm, okay, I will shoulder that responsibility.

“I will take it upon myself . I will accept this responsibility and I want to fix Fifa together with you. At the end of my term of office I want to hand over a strong Fifa.”

Prince Ali said his leadership would be markedly different: “I know Fifa’s not just about one man and I will not lead it unilaterally. If you give me the honour of your vote I will take full responsibility.”

‘Eyes of world on us’

During his address to the delegates, Prince Ali said the election was a chance for a fresh start to win back trust. “The eyes of the world are upon us, and not for the first time, and this time everything is at stake. No blame can be passed that washes away the stain that marks us all.”

He promised to make finances “accountable” and provide more transparency, saying: “I will not hide when things are bad and come forward when things are good.”

His parting message to the voters was: “Listen to your conscience and listen to your hearts. For the soul of our game and for a new dawn for Fifa.”

How the Fifa election works

This is how the voting procedure works at Fifa’s presidential election in Zurich on Friday.

• Sepp Blatter and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein both have opportunities to address the Fifa Congress.
• Each of Fifa 209 associations have a vote.
• If either candidate achieves two-thirds of the eligible vote in the first round then he wins outright – if there are 209 votes that means 140 to win outright.
• Prince Ali needs at least 70 votes to take the election to a second round.
• If there is no outright victory, the winner will simply be whoever gains more votes in the second round – 105 votes will win it.
• Voting will take place via a secret ballot.

Fifa is made up of six confederations, varying in size:

• UEFA (Europe) has 53 votes
• CONCACAF (north, central America and Caribbean) has 35 votes
• CAF (Africa) has 54 votes
• AFC (Asia) has 46 votes
• CONMEBOL (South America) has 10 votes
• OFC (Oceania) has 11 votes

Above: Keme Nzerem asks Chabur G. Alei, the president of the South Sudan FA, why he is voting for Sepp Blatter

A lone female protester waving a Palestine flag and shouting at Mr Blatter was also led away by security staff as the congress got underway.

Mr Blatter, sitting on the podium, called for security and asked for all access points to be made secure when the protester interrupted the proceedings.

It was an unnerving start for Mr Blatter, who is seeking re-election as Fifa President with the result expected on Friday afternoon.