The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sepp Blatter

  • Blatter condemns Europe’s ‘hate campaign’ against FIFA

    Blatter condemns Europe’s ‘hate campaign’ against FIFA

    FIFA president Sepp Blatter has condemned what he described as a “hate” campaign against football’s world governing body by European officials.

    And the Swiss said he was “shocked” by the comments of United States’ prosecutors following the arrests of FIFA officials under an American anti-corruption warrant.

    The 79-year-old Blatter was re-elected on Friday at a FIFA congress in Zurich, the BBC reports.

    European football governing body UEFA’s president, Michel Platini, had urged Blatter to step down ahead of the vote.

    Blatter’s rival, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, forced a second round of voting on Friday but then withdrew.

    He won 133 votes to Prince Ali’s 73 in the first round, just short of the 140 votes needed for an outright win.

    On Wednesday, U.S prosecutors indicted 14 FIFA officials and associates, with seven arrested in a dawn raid at an upmarket hotel in Zurich. They are accused of bribery, racketeering and money-laundering involving tens of millions of dollars since 1991.

    Meanwhile, Swiss authorities have launched a separate criminal investigation into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar.

    Blatter was brimming with confidence after his election for a fifth term as FIFA present.

    Asked about damage to FIFA’s image because of the many allegations of corruption, he blamed the media for exaggerating the crisis, saying FIFA remained well regarded, most especially in Asia and Africa.

  • Blatter re-elected as FIFA president

    Blatter re-elected as FIFA president

    Mr. Sepp Blatter was on Friday  re-elected as FIFA president, surviving latest attempts to oust him as head of world soccer governing body.

    The Swiss secured his fifth term as FIFA supremo after his major challenger, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, pulled out of second round of voting.

    The exercise went into second round after the two candidates failed to secure the required two-thirds majority (140 votes) in the first round.

    He polled 133 votes, while his Jordanian challenger racked up 73.

    The 79-year-old Blatter had faced opposition from European soccer governing body, UEFA, since Swiss police detained on Wednesday several high-ranking FIFA officials as part of United States investigation into corruption within the soccer governing body.

    He was first elected President  in June 1998 at the 51st FIFA Congress in Paris, France, succeeding Brazilian João Havelange who had held the post since 1974.

     

     

  • CAF opposes postponement of FIFA elections

    CAF opposes postponement of FIFA elections

    The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) on Thursday said it is opposed to a postponement of the 65th FIFA Election/Congress into the presidency of the world soccer body, scheduled to hold on May 29 in Zurich.

    CAF in its website said the confederation at its meeting held on May 27 in Zurich reiterated its support for the candidacy of incumbent Sepp Blatter during the election.

    “CAF is following with particular attention the events happening in the football family at this time.

    “the commitment of CAF to work and to cooperate in safeguarding the ethical and moral values that underlie the practice of the sport, its organisation and administration,” the Africa soccer governing body said.

    Furthermore, it noted that the body offers full support to measures initiated by FIFA in recent years at improving good governance.

    CAF however, re-affirmed its readiness to cooperate in this direction with all the institutions that engage and subscribe to zero tolerance, vis-a-vis offenders, regardless of their profile or origin.

     

  • FIFA officials arrested in corruption probes

    FIFA officials arrested in corruption probes

    Two criminal investigations into corruption at football’s world governing body FIFA are under way, with seven senior officials arrested in Zurich on United States charges.

    Separately, Swiss prosecutors have launched a criminal case into the bids for the 2018 and 2022 world Cups, to be held in Russia and Qatar respectively, the BBC reports.

    The seven are among 14 indicted on corruption charges, U.S authorities said.

    FIFA said it plans to go ahead with elections for president on Friday.

    Incumbent president Sepp Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term, was not one of the seven high-ranking officials arrested.

    FIFA also said on Wednesday there would be no rerun of the World Cup bidding processes which saw Russia awarded the tournament in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, despite the Swiss inquiry.

    Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan – Mr. Blatter’s rival for the FIFA presidency – described the arrests as “a sad day for football.”

    FIFA’s Zurich headquarters has also been raided, with electronic data and documents seized.

    The U.S justice department said 14 individuals were under investigation worldwide, including high-ranking FIFA officials, for allegedly accepting bribes and kickbacks worth $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period. They include:

    Jeffrey Webb – head of the confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, CONCACAF, and FIFA vice-president

    Jack Warner, former FIFA vice-president and former CONCACAF president

    Costa Rica’s national football chief, Eduardo Li, who was due to join FIFA’s executive committee on Friday

    Uruguay’s Eugenio Figueredo, president of South American football governing body, CONMEBOL

    Brazil’s Jose Maria Marin, a member of FIFAs club committee

    Seven of those under investigation were arrested in a police operation at a five-star hotel in Zurich earlier on Wednesday.

     

  • Blatter hails Nigeria football, NFF board

    Blatter hails Nigeria football, NFF board

    …Nigeria very important to world football – FIFA supremo

    FIFA president, Mr. Sepp Blatter, has saluted the new Nigeria Football Federation board drive and hopes president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, continues to encourage Nigeria football

    Blatter also revealed that Nigeria is a very important country in world football for always striving to qualify for all FIFA organized competitions.

    He made the comments during his Moday meeting with the Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

    He meeting was in line with NFF administration’s vision of constantly bonding with the world body, and also to seek more FIFA projects for the country.

    The FIFA supremo commended the passion and drive of the new NFF body, revealing his delight with their new thinking and dynamism.

    “First and foremost, let me commend you for the efforts that Nigeria make each time to participate in all FIFA competitions, and for qualifying for most of those competitions.

    Nigeria is a very important country in world football,” Goal quoted Blatter as saying on the NFF website.

    “I have followed with keen interest the innovation that your new team is bringing to Nigeria football with so much passion and conviction, and your new direction points to a very ambitious federation.”

    The Swiss also saluted outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan for his immense contributions to the growth of Nigeria football, while tasking Buhari to do better.

    “We commend the outgoing President Jonathan for his achievements in the football sector and for encouraging the football federation,” he continued.

    “The incoming President Buhari is also a passionate follower of the game of football, and we believe he will continue to encourage the NFF’s giant strides and Nigeria football generally,” he concluded while assuring that FIFA will always be there to support the Nigeria football.

    Pinnick will hold a meeting with Greg Dyke, Chairman of The Football Association, in London on Tuesday.

  • FIFA warns Nigeria against leadership tussle

    FIFA warns Nigeria against leadership tussle

    FIFA on Thursday said it would ban Nigeria if the newly elected executive committee of the Nigeria Football Federation is not allowed to function.

    There have been media reports that a group led by the controversial Chris Giwa, who claimed to have been elected NFF president on August 26 will “resume work in Abuja on Thursday.”

    “We now expect the NFF and its new leadership to carry out its activities without any hindrance in order to avoid having to again refer the case to the appropriate FIFA bodies for an automatic suspension as stated in our previous correspondence,” africanFootball.com quoted the world soccer governing body as saying in a letter signed by its general secretary, Jerome Valke.

    The letter reads: “We would like to congratulate the members of the new board on their election and are confident they are committed to continuing the development of football in Nigeria.”

    FIFA also commended the NFF for the successful completion of the executive committee elections on Tuesday with a special mention for NFF general secretary Musa Amadu.

    “We would also take this opportunity to praise the NFF and especially you (Amadu) on what had been achieved in recent weeks despite the various difficulties,” FIFA stated.

    On Wednesday, FIFA President Sepp Blatter sent a letter of congratulations to the new NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, saying that he (Blatter) is looking forward to meeting and supporting him and his new board towards ensuring stable development of football in the country.

  • FIFA President, Blatter, mourns late Ntiero Effiom

    FIFA President, Blatter, mourns late Ntiero Effiom

    President of world football –governing body, FIFA,  Sepp Blatter has expressed his deepest sympathy to NFF President,  Aminu Maigari, over the death of former Super Falcons’Head Coach,  Ntiero Effiom.

    In a letter addressed personally to  Maigari, Blatter noted that the late Ntiero Effiom was “an outstanding coach and will be remembered for his various accomplishments and the contributions he made to the women’s game in Nigeria.

    “Allow me on behalf of FIFA and the worldwide family of football, to extend my deepest condolences to the football community of Nigeria, and most importantly to his family, friends and loved ones.

    “We hope that in some way, our words of support may help bring a little bit of peace and solace in this time of sadness.”

  • FIFA to announce 2018 World Cup host cities on Sept. 29

    FIFA to announce 2018 World Cup host cities on Sept. 29

    The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), confirmed on Friday it would announced the host cities of the 2018 World Cup in Russia next Saturday.

    FIFA President, Sepp Blatter and Russian Sports Minister, Vitaly Mutko, would jointly on Sept. 29 unveil the final 11 host cities among 13 candidates.

    The duo would announce the cities during a live broadcast on Russia’s Channel One TV starting from 9:20 p.m. Moscow time (1720 GMT).

    “I can say with pride that whichever host cities are finally selected, we believe that the entire country will win,” Mutko said.

    Officials from FIFA and Russia, as well as Russian athletes, football stars and celebrities, would also attend the announcement ceremony.

    Russia was awarded the right to host the 2018 World Cup in Dec., 2010.

    A total of 13 Russian cities, including Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Krasnodar and Sochi are vying to host World Cup matches.

    Mutko said in April that FIFA had allocated nearly 700 million U.S. dollars to the 2018 World Cup. (Xinhua/NAN)

  • Blatter hails Nigerian women football

    Blatter hails Nigerian women football

    FIFA president, Sepp Blatter has tipped Nigerian women football for more glory after the sterling performance of the Falconets in the just-concluded FIFA U-20 Women World Cup in Japan.

    This much was revealed by the Chairperson of the Nigeria Women Football League, Dilichukwu Onyedinma, who met with Blatter at the FIFA Dinner during the tournament.

    She said; “It was a very heart-warming meeting. He (Blatter) pointed out that the performance of the Falconets was an indicator to the growth of women football in Africa. He also hailed Nigeria for leading the way in Africa. He was so particular about the Nigerian Women League. In his opinion, since most of the players are playing at home, it was a reflection of how strong the league is.”

    In Blatter’s estimation, it wouldn’t be long before Nigeria rules the world in women football.

    “He said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Nigeria wins one of these women football tournaments before long”, Onyedinma added.

    The meeting with Blatter has fired Onyedinma to put in more efforts in boosting the quality of the Women Football League.

    “Candidly, his words were very encouraging. It has thrown a bigger challenge at us to ensure our league is better and stronger. The world expects so much from us and we cannot afford to fail”, she enthused.