By Barbara Harrison
You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
But all you need to know about the next president of the corruption-tainted FIFA, the world soccer governing body, is that Sepp Blatter was on the ballot.
And today Blatter retained his position as the most powerful figure in soccer, winning re-election as FIFA’s president and a fifth term when his only competition, Prince Ali bin al-Hussain, withdrew from consideration after the first ballot.
The election was forced to a second vote after Blatter failed to gain a two-thirds majority in the initial phase. The first ballot was conducted with 133 votes going to Blatter, 73 to Prince Ali and three being invalid. Each of FIFA’s 209 member associations gets a single vote.
However, Prince Ali announced before the second vote that he was stepping aside.
“I like you, I like my job,” Blatter said to cheering voters. “I am not perfect, nobody is perfect, but we will do a good job together I am sure.”
Until Wednesday, when United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch released details of a 47-count indictment against 14 people either senior members of, or linked to FIFA, Blatter was considered a lock to win the vote.
