Blatter, Sepp

Sepp Blatter, byname of Joseph S. Blatter, (born March 10, 1936, Visp, Switzerland), Swiss sports executive who served as the president (1998–2015) of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the governing body of international football (soccer) that is best known for overseeing the World Cup. Blatter’s tenure was marked by massive corporate profits and the growth of football in developing markets as well as by widespread corruption and graft.

Blatter earned a business and economics degree at the University of Lausanne and was a keen amateur footballer in his youth, playing centre forward for FC Sierre. He spoke French, English, Italian, and Spanish in addition to German and initially worked as a journalist. In a series of public relations positions, he presided as the head of a local tourist board, the general secretary of the Swiss ice hockey federation, and a director of a watch-manufacturing company. He was also involved in the Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. In 1975 Blatter was appointed director of the technical department at FIFA. He became the organization’s general secretary in 1981 before being elected president on June 8, 1998, to succeed João Havelange.

Early in his tenure, a succession of financial scandals initially did not affect Blatter’s position, as he distanced himself from any hint of misconduct, largely escaped being associated with disgraced FIFA officials, and refused to accept any moral responsibility for their actions. He was implicated in the aftermath of the collapse of one of FIFA’s marketing partners in 2001, but, despite apparently damning evidence, he was exonerated and was reelected president in 2002. Blatter stood unopposed for the post in 2007 and again in 2011, though allegations later emerged that South Africa had contributed $10 million toward securing the right to stage the 2010 World Cup. As early as 2011 there were allegations of bribery and fraud over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals to Russia and Qatar, respectively. Outside the sports arena, observers came to perceive FIFA as a moneymaking venture with merely a peripheral interest in the welfare of the game itself. From 2011 to 2014, for example, the body’s income, mainly from worldwide sponsorships and television rights, was estimated at $5.7 billion.

During Blatter’s time at FIFA the global game expanded with new competitions, including the Club World Cup, Women’s World Cup, beach soccer, and futsal (indoor soccer). He cultivated worldwide links to influential people, especially in Asia and Africa, where he developed his power base, lavishing attention and FIFA money on members in those regions.

On May 27, 2015, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Swiss investigators raided a Zürich hotel in advance of the FIFA annual congress, arresting and charging seven FIFA executives with racketeering and money laundering. Seven additional officials and sports-marketing figures were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for offenses spanning a 24-year period. It was also revealed that four other executives and two companies had already pleaded guilty in the international probe, which involved some $150 million in alleged bribes and kickbacks. Two days after the arrests, Blatter was nevertheless reelected by nearly a two-thirds majority of the 209-member FIFA body. As the corruption scandal and public outcry over Blatter’s reelection escalated in the following days, however, Blatter called for a special session of the FIFA congress to be held and vowed to resign once the congress elected his successor. In October 2015, following the announcements of further investigations of Blatter, FIFA’s ethics committee suspended him from the organization for 90 days, and Issa Hayatou was named acting president.

Two months later Blatter was found guilty of ethics violations and barred from football-related activities for eight years. Some of the charges stemmed from a $2 million payment Blatter made to Michel Platini in 2011; the latter, who was then president of the Union of European Football Associations, was considered Blatter’s likely successor. Blatter contested the decision, and in February 2016 FIFA’s appeals committee reduced the ban to six years. That ruling was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December. Also in 2016, FIFA elected a new president, Gianni Infantino. Citing financial wrongdoing, FIFA issued another ban against Blatter in March 2021. It barred him from football for more than six years beginning after his original ban ended in October.

Later in 2021, Swiss authorities indicted Blatter and Platini on fraud charges related to the 2011 payment. The two men went on trial in 2022, and both were acquitted.