Sepp Blatter

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Sepp Blatter (2015)

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter (born March 10, 1936 in Visp , Canton of Valais ; resident in Ulrichen ) is a former Swiss football official . From 1998 to 2016 he was President of the world football association FIFA .

On June 2, 2015 - just a few days after his re-election - Blatter surprisingly announced his resignation from this position, but declared that he would continue to exercise the function until a successor was elected.

On December 21, 2015, as a result of an investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of improper agency, the FIFA Ethics Committee suspended Blatter for eight years for all football-related activities and imposed a fine of 50,000 Swiss francs on him. The ban was reduced from eight to six years by a FIFA appeals court on February 24, 2016.

Life

education

Blatter attended primary school in Visp and other schools in Sion and Saint-Maurice . He then studied economics at the HEC Lausanne and graduated in 1958 with a diploma . Blatter is the old man of the Swiss student union Helvetia , where he was baptized the Vulgo Mi-temps (German halftime ).

Personal

Blatter was married three times. He has a grown daughter from his first marriage and a granddaughter. Blatter is originally entitled to live in Ulrichen , today part of the municipality of Obergoms .

Football career, functionary

Blatter played football from 1948 to 1971, at FC Sierre also in the first division of Switzerland. From 1959 to 1964 he was secretary of the Valais transport association, from 1964 to 1966 central secretary of the Swiss ice hockey association and from 1966 to 1968 press officer of the umbrella organization of the Swiss sports associations . In 1968 he switched to the private sector and worked until 1975 as director of public relations for the Swiss watch manufacturer Longines . From 1970 to 1975 he was on the board of the Neuchâtel Xamax football club .

FIFA

Secretary General Sepp Blatter and President João Havelange on the occasion of the 1982 World Cup

In the summer of 1975 at the initiative of Blatter later became Adidas -Vorstandsvorsitzenden Horst Dassler Director of Development Programs at FIFA. He had his office in the French Adidas branch for a few years and was also temporarily paid by the sporting goods company. Again thanks to Dassler's support, he worked from 1981 to 1998 as FIFA Secretary General. In 1990 he was also given executive director powers. On June 8, 1998, Blatter was elected to succeed João Havelange as the eighth President of FIFA. He prevailed against the UEFA President Lennart Johansson with 111 to 80 votes. When he was re-elected in 2002, he prevailed against Issa Hayatou with 139 to 56 votes .

In an interview with the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung in 2007, Blatter stated that he had received one million US dollars from FIFA in 2006. At the 57th FIFA Congress in Zurich in 2007 , Blatter was confirmed in his office until 2011 by acclamation . On June 1, 2011, at the 61st FIFA Congress, he was re-elected as FIFA President for a fourth term until 2015 with 186 votes out of 203. His rival candidate Mohamed bin Hammam withdrew his candidacy on May 29, 2011. At the 64th FIFA Congress in São Paulo in June 2014, FIFA delegates spoke out against a term limit and an age limit for top FIFA officials. The then 78-year-old Blatter then announced his candidacy for the presidential election in May 2015. His opponent was Ali bin al-Hussein . Jérôme Champagne and David Ginola did not receive the required five letters of recommendation from FIFA member associations. KNVB President Michael van Praag and Luís Figo withdrew their candidacy before the election. On May 29, 2015, the 79-year-old Blatter was confirmed for another term of office after his rival candidate bin al-Hussein announced his retirement after the first ballot. In the first ballot, Blatter got 133 of 206 valid votes.

On June 2, 2015, Blatter announced his resignation from the office of FIFA President. He remained in office until his successor Gianni Infantino was elected at the FIFA Congress on February 26, 2016 in Zurich, but Domenico Scala managed the business on an interim basis.

Blatter has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1999 .

According to FIFA

The weekly newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag announced in May 2016 that Blatter would write regularly for the newspaper. He will write his columns on areas such as “football” and “sports policy”. On the occasion of the 2018 World Cup , at which he attended a group game on a private invitation from Putin , Blatter told RT that he was “still president, but suspended”. Various Swiss media report that he only communicates with his successor Infantino "via lawyers": Blatter still has "points open" at FIFA that Infantino did not address.

criticism

Accusation of mismanagement

Blatter was regularly accused of financial mismanagement, including within FIFA, for example in 1999 by FIFA Secretary General Michel Zen-Ruffinen regarding losses of up to 100 million US dollars in marketing. A corresponding lawsuit was dropped by a Swiss court. An internal investigation was prevented by Blatter's veto and his critic was dismissed from office.

Regulatory reforms

Many of the changes to the rules and statutes of FIFA that were introduced during Blatter's tenure met with a moderate response from fans, journalists, players and clubs or were discussed controversially. Examples include ongoing considerations for reorganizing the decision-making process in the event of a tie , the strict interpretation of the rules for one-piece jerseys for the Cameroonian national team, or the rule introduced in 2008 that an acclimatization period of one week is observed before international matches at over 2000 m above sea level .

Commentary on women's football

In 2004, Blatter received criticism from players' and women's associations for a comment in an interview with the Swiss Sunday view on women's football , according to which the sportswear of football players should be made more “ feminine ”. This measure should attract new donors, for example from the cosmetics and fashion industries. Blatter compared his idea with the development in volleyball.

Allegations of corruption and kickbacks

After Blatters was elected FIFA President in 1998, Egidius Braun accused him of buying the necessary votes for his majority. Other rumors of corruption cases also surfaced prior to the election. The English investigative author David Yallop describes in his book How the Game Was Lost , how Blatter allegedly bought 22 votes for 50,000 US dollars each. Blatter took legal action against the book and obtained a ban on sales in Switzerland.

His re-election in 2002 was similarly controversial, again burdened by rumors of illegal activities in the background. In this regard, Somali delegate Farah Addo published his claim that he and other delegates were offered $ 100,000 for one vote for Blatter in the 1998 election. In March 2003, Farah Addo was sentenced by a Swiss court to stop repeating his testimony and to pay Blatter CHF 10,000 in  compensation. But he did not have to retract his claim.

FIFA General Secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen accused him of abuse of office in 2002, and 11 of the 24 members of the FIFA Executive Committee brought criminal charges against Blatter. However, the complaint was not followed up by the judicial authorities in Zurich and was even classified as on the verge of a false accusation. Blatter, who vehemently denied the allegations, got Zen-Ruffinen to resign from his post after the 2002 World Cup .

Shortly before the FIFA presidential election on June 1, 2011, the FIFA Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Blatter. His opponent, Mohamed bin Hammam, accused him of knowing about his bribes to delegates of the Caribbean Football Union and of taking no action. On May 29, 2011, the ethics committee acquitted him.

On September 25, 2015, Blatter was questioned as a suspect by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office. He was charged with suspected improper agency ( Art. 158 StGB) and possibly embezzlement ( Art. 138 StGB) in connection with the sale of television rights in the Caribbean below market value and a payment of two million Swiss francs to Michel Platini in 2011 for his services between January 1999 and June 2002. In addition, FIFA offices in Zurich were searched and data carriers were confiscated. On September 28, 2015, Blatter told FIFA staff that he would remain president, that he had done nothing illegal and that he was cooperating with the authorities, as his lawyer reported. Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, as two of FIFA ’s six major sponsors, demanded the immediate resignation of Blatters as a consequence of the criminal proceedings, which, however, his lawyer in New York immediately refused because it was not in the interests of FIFA. A day later, two other main sponsors, Visa and Budweiser , joined the call. Of the other major sponsors of FIFA, only Adidas commented and rejected requests for resignation, instead it was emphasized that they had repeatedly called for the reform process to be continued. There was no comment from the other major sponsors Hyundai / Kia and Gazprom .

On October 8, 2015, Blatter - together with Vice President Michel Platini - was suspended from all functions by the ethics committee for 90 days. The suspension could be extended for another 45 days after it had expired. The commission justified the suspension, during which both activities in connection with football are prohibited, with the ongoing investigation against Blatter because of the two million payment to Platini. The lawyers of Blatters complained that the commission had violated the statutes and disciplinary regulations of the association by not hearing Blatter in the proceedings. According to initial information from Blatter confidante Klaus Stöhlker , the lawyers did not want to appeal the suspension. Blatter's attorney Richard Kullen disagreed with the announcement, however, saying that after consulting with his attorneys, Blatter is appealing the suspension and that this motion has already been filed. The FIFA Appeals Committee, chaired by Larry Mussenden , now had to discuss this. The appeal was rejected in November 2015. The ethics committee also presented its final report, which announced:

«To decide within a reasonable period of time whether a formal legal procedure will be initiated against Joseph S. Blatter and Michel Platini».

According to Platini's lawyer, the ethics committee had opened formal proceedings against Michel Platini on November 23, 2015, in which it was a lifelong ban from all football activities. The process is based on the assumption that Platini, in return for the payment, supported Blatters in his election as FIFA President in 2011. Blatter is said to have assured Platini that this would be his last term of office. This opened up a chance for Platini to be elected president in 2015, which would have been much more difficult if Blatter's challenger at the time, Mohamed bin Hammam, had been successful.

On December 17, 2015, Blatter had to undergo a hearing before the FIFA Ethics Committee. On December 21, 2015, the ethics committee suspended Blatter for eight years and imposed a fine of 50,000 Swiss francs on him. The commission found that the payment to Platini was not corruption, but lacked a legal basis and violated the ethics committee's principles regarding the acceptance and granting of gifts and other benefits. According to the commission, there was a conflict of interest in which Blatter violated his duty of loyalty to FIFA. The ethics committee concluded that his behavior was an abuse of his position. On February 24, 2016, the FIFA Appeals Committee reduced the bans for Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini from eight to six years each.

During a press conference on July 20, 2015 in Zurich with the then FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the British comedian Simon Brodkin stood before Blatter in response to the corruption in FIFA and placed a wad of one-dollar bills on the table for him. With the note “This is for the 2026 World Cup in North Korea ”, he threw more notes into the air over Blatter before he was taken away.

ISL bribery affair

Several managers of the sports marketing company ISL , which went bankrupt in 2001 and which worked closely with FIFA on television broadcasting rights , were fined in 2007 for, among other things, embezzlement, fraud and fraudulent bankruptcy, including a confidante and friend of Blatters, ISL's vice-president Jean-Marie Weber. The FIFA affair turned into a scandal when the Zug public prosecutor later started investigations into bribery of senior FIFA officials by ISL. The proceedings were discontinued in 2010 in return for a payment of CHF 5.5 million. The recipients of bribes included Ricardo Teixeira , Nicolás Leoz and Blatter's predecessor João Havelange . From a discontinuation order that became known in July 2012, against the publication of which FIFA and individual persons concerned were suing in vain, it emerges that Sepp Blatter, also in the role of FIFA Secretary General, was informed about the bribe payments to FIFA officials without anything against it to do. Under the pressure of the burden of proof, Blatter admitted knowing about the payments, which he called "commission payments". One could “not measure the past by the standards of today”, this was “moral justice”. In 2015 it became known that the FBI was investigating Blatter on the basis of a letter from João Havelange, in which it was stated that he had fully known about payments. For his part, Blatter had such allegations stopped by a court in Switzerland in 2010 and was acquitted of any wrongdoing by the FIFA Ethics Committee in 2013.

Calls from Germany, for example from DFL President Reinhard Rauball , that he should resign, Blatter replied with hints that the 2006 World Cup was also not awarded to Germany. Members of the German World Cup organizing committee at the time, including Franz Beckenbauer and Fedor Radmann , denied the allegations. In the German media, Blatter's statements were predominantly referred to as diversionary maneuvers. Occasionally, however, it was also pointed out that the then tight majority decision of the Executive Council (12:11) had been preceded by "numerous peculiarities", including the renunciation of voting by the New Zealand official Charles Dempsey, who was then under pressure from various sides, as well as investments and marketing deals of German companies such as of the Kirch Group and Daimler-Benz in favor of participating electors and / or their associations and countries.

More functions

  • Founding President of the Daniel Nivel Foundation named after a seriously injured police officer (2000 – before 2016)

Awards (selection)

Sepp Blatter, together with four or five other people as a possible winner of the Arosa Humor shovel 2012 and 2014, a jury prize of the Arosa Humor Festival , nominated.

The old school house of the primary school in Visp has been called the Sepp Blatter School House since 1999 . There is a Sepp Blatter soccer field in Ulrichen.

literature

Movies

  • 2010: Beat Bieri: König Fussball, Kaiser Sepp , SRF documentary (50 min, first broadcast on November 25, 2010 on SRF 1 )
  • 2014: United Passions - La Légende du Football
  • 2015: Football Sold - Sepp Blatter and the Power of FIFA , WDR documentary (45 min, first broadcast on May 4, 2015 in Das Erste )

Web links

Commons : Sepp Blatter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

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