Sepp Blatter

Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007 and 2011.

Since 1975, Blatter has been working 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 2007, even though only 66 of 207 FIFA members nominated him. His 2011 reelection was surrounded by scandal, see Wikipedia page. On 29 May 2015, he was re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president; a few days before, seven functionaries of the American branch of the organisation had been arrest in a Zürich hotel, accused of corruption, money laundering and other crimes by the US legal system.

Despite winning five terms as President, Blatter has often been dogged by controversy and allegations of corruption. His tenure has seen controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement and the acceptance of bribes resulting in Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid. Blatter has attracted criticism from the media, senior football figures and players, due to controversial statements. On 2 June 2015, he announced his retirement at the end of 2015 although he was just reelected.