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'No more Mr. Nice Guy' Says Blatter after Crushing Re-election Victory
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Blatter (left) crushed Hayatou |
SEOUL,
May 29 (IslamOnline & News agencies) - After winning one of the
most bitter election battles in international sports history, FIFA
(Federation of International Football Association) President Sepp
Blatter said Wednesday he may have been too nice in the past and will
have to change, news agencies reported.
But
the crushing victory of the 66-year-old son of a Swiss bicycle
repairer showed that Blatter can stand the pressure and fight with the
most ruthless on the political stage.
Despite
months of accusations of corruption and mismanagement, Blatter beat
Issa Hayatou, president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) by
139 votes to 56 to retain control of the body that runs the world's
most popular sport.
"I
had no time to campaign, I only had time to defend myself and the
office of the president," Blatter told a press conference after
his triumph, the size of which amazed even his opponents, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"It
was not my bitter campaign, it was self-defense. So if you ask me what
I will do better in the next four years, I would say that I am too
confident and that I shall be a bit more prudent in the choice of
people who have to work directly with me."
However,
the re-elected Blatter pledged to ‘forget and forgive’, promising
to work on uniting the FIFA family once more.
"You
cannot be so bad when this happens. We are all good."
He
added: "Let us now forget what has happened and go forward. FIFA
will be one family, united.
"We
have to restore our unity then we will restore our credibility,"
reported BBC’s online news service.
Blatter's
pledge to unify FIFA, however, looked in tatters following his
resounding re-election.
UEFA
President Lennart Johansson offered to resign from his post, while
Blatter launched an attack on his biggest critic, FIFA
general-secretary Michael Zen-Ruffinen
Johannson
is one of five FIFA vice-presidents who started legal proceedings
against Blatter's handling of financial affairs.
After
firmly backing Blatter's rival Issa Hayatou, Johannson confirmed he
would meet UEFA heads.
Johansson
said: "I have to ask them if they still want me, to know if the
situation is still the same as when they elected me.
"I
am prepared to step down," said Johansson.
Zen-Ruffinen, who took over as FIFA Secretary General when Blatter
first moved up to become FIFA president in 1998 had better watch out.
Having been one of the main critics of Blatter's maneuvers,
Zen-Ruffinen knows his job is now on the line.
"I
always knew that if Mr Blatter won, then I would be in trouble,"
he said at the congress and Blatter later confirmed Zen-Ruffinen's
worst fears.
"He's
in trouble, he said to one of your colleagues - and he is in
trouble," declared Blatter despite his pledge to reunite the FIFA
family after months of controversy over the state of football's
finances.
"I
have to work on this unity but it also depends on the behavior and the
fair play of those who in past times were not very 'gentile' with
me."
Blatter
always wanted to be a footballer but found his true vocation as an
administrator after his father forced him to give up sport and sign up
with the law faculty at the university of Lausanne.
He
became the head of a tourism office in a Swiss canton in 1958, chief
of the Swiss ice hockey federation in 1964 as well as head of public
relations for Swiss watchmaker Longines.
Blatter's
rise through the ranks of FIFA started in 1975 when he joined as a
development director and then became secretary general in 1981.
Blatter was the loyal right hand man to Joao Havelange, the Brazilian
who transformed FIFA's finances.
He
learned all the secrets of football's governing body and Havelange
pushed him into becoming the rival candidate to Johansson when the
Brazilian ended his 24-year reign as president in 1998.
Blatter
took over a federation running the world's most watched and played
sport, the biggest sporting event, the World Cup - and with the
popularity just growing.
However,
financial problems caused by the collapse of FIFA's marketing agent
ISL-ISMM and German company Kirch, which held the television rights to
the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals, darkened the end of Blatter's
first term.
Zen-Ruffinen
turned against his boss, telling the congress this week of mysterious
payments that neither he nor the FIFA executive committee nor its
finance committee knew of.
Now
Blatter's battle will be to reunify the leadership where most of his
vice presidents, including Johanssonm, are against him.
After
the victory, the UEFA leader indicated he was ready to help patch up
the quarrels.
"You
fight the match until its over and then you have to work
together," the Swedish said.
But
Zen-Ruffinen said Blatter will "find it very difficult to
re-unify this divided family."
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