The FIFA presidential election has taken place, and it came just shortly after corruption scandals were exposed in FIFA.
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UEFA president asks Sepp Blatter to step down as FIFA president
Sepp Blatter denies responsibility for FIFA scandal
FIFA president Sepp Blatter took a lot of heat for the brewing scandals, so his presidency was thought to be in trouble.
However, he was able to hold off Prince Ali in the election on Friday, as he won with 133 votes against Prince Ali’s 73 in the first round.
“I thank you. I thank that you have accepted me. We will bring this boat back, we will bring it back to shore,” Blatter said to ESPN FC.
After Prince Ali failed to win two-thirds majority of the votes and also lost in the second round, he decided to concede the election to Blatter.
This will mark Blatter’s fifth term as the FIFA president, and he will have served 21 years after his upcoming term expires in 2019. This is the third-longest tenure in FIFA history, and Jules Rimet holds the record with 33 years.
Blatter will have a big mess to continue dealing with, but he has denied being a part of it.
U.S. officials were indicted due to accepting bribes dating back to the 1990s, and they had reportedly accepted over $100 million in bribes as two vice presidents were among those who were arrested.
The Swiss government has also found themselves in trouble due to money laundering involved in the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Blatter was asked to resign by UEFA president Michel Platini, but he immediately refused to do so and insisted that he cannot do everything at once despite being the president and acknowledging that his position is considered responsible for everything.
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