June 01, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1428

ZURICH, May 31: Sepp Blatter was re-elected unopposed on Thursday to a third term as president of soccer's world governing body. The 71-year-old Blatter was approved by acclamation by the 207 associations present at the FIFA Congress in Zurich. He will serve a four-year term until 2011.

No other candidates challenged the incumbent. In April, 66 member associations from the six confederations nominated Blatter for a third term.

Blatter told the hundreds of delegates that he felt ‘great joy, a joy deep inside.’

“I accept this mandate,” Blatter said. “Thank you for your trust and thank you for putting me once again at the helm of this institution of FIFA.”

Blatter was first elected as FIFA's eighth president in June 1998, after 17 years as Joao Havelange's secretary general. Four years later in Seoul, the associations voted him in again.

FIA decided in 2003 to extend that term from four to five years so that the presidential election would take place in the year following the World Cup.

Blatter said he felt particularly emotional because “we are in Switzerland, in my country. We are in Zurich, in the city of FIFA.”

Blatter, who started out at FIFA in 1975 and became secretary general six years later, rose quickly through the ranks. As secretary general and then president, he has overseen huge growth in the organization.

Blatter often used to joke that, when he joined FIFA in 1975, he was the 11th member of the administration staff and that his arrival ‘made up a full team.’ There were 20 staff members in 1981 when he took over as general secretary.

Now, that number has risen to 280 and FIFA has moved its headquarters to a stunning $220 million stone and glass building on a hill overlooking Zurich.

Like Havelange, Blatter has been accused of being an autocratic leader.

There was fury within the sport when, weeks before the presidential election five years ago, Blatter suspended a probe into FIFA's finances after the collapse of its marketing partner ISL/ISMM.

Blatter has long been at odds with the so-called G14 clubs – the European powerhouses that dominate their own domestic championships and the Champions League. They have the financial power to buy the best players, pay them inflated salaries and accumulate such large squads that top-quality stars can spend much of the season idle or on the bench.

Belgian side Sporting Charleroi, backed by G14, is currently seeking damages from FIFA after one of its players, Abdelmajid Oulmers, was injured playing for Morocco and sidelined for eight months.

On Thursday, Blatter made it clear he wanted to curb the influence of G14, but his tone was conciliatory.

“What I have said to the dissident clubs and others is, 'We want you back. We don't want to discipline you or scold you,'” Blatter said.

While not scared to criticize clubs and leagues, Blatter has attracted ridicule with some of his pronouncements, including when he urged female players to wear skimpier, tighter shorts.

FIFA announced that its next congress would take place in Sydney, Australia, on May 28-30, 2008.

Earlier in the day, Blatter praised the replacement of John McBeth as Britain's candidate for FIFA vice president after the Scottish FA president made alleged racist remarks.

On Wednesday, the four British associations replaced McBeth with England FA chairman Geoff Thompson.

In other decisions taken by Fifa on Thursday:

Accepted Montenegro as its 208th member, allowing the nation to play in the preliminary qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup.

Accepted a change to its statutes to entitle FIFA to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against any doping-related decisions taken by the confederations, members or leagues.

Made it mandatory for each member association to create and oversee its own referees committee.

Prohibited disputes from being taken to ordinary courts of law, unless FIFA regulations or binding legal provisions provide for such recourse. Instead, cases must be taken to an independent arbitration tribunal recognized by the association or to CAS.—AP