61st FIFA Congress
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1 June 2011
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The 61st FIFA Congress was held between 31 May and 1 June 2011 at the Hallenstadion in Zürich, Switzerland.[1] FIFA is the governing body of world association football, and the congress is the annual meeting of FIFA's supreme legislative body. This is the eighth congress to be held in Zürich, and the first since 2007.[2] After an opening ceremony and a reminder of FIFA events and activities in 2010, the second day witnessed decisions taken, and the unveiling of the 2010 financial results.[1] The opening ceremony was presented by Melanie Winiger, and featured singer Grace Jones, hammered dulcimer player Nicolas Senn, and juggler Alan Šulc.[3]
The congress agenda was released on 5 May.[4]
- Internal reform
Following the allegations of corruption Blatter announced changes to FIFA's internal processes. Future FIFA World Cups will be selected by the whole FIFA Congress rather than the FIFA Executive Committee, an internal committee will examine FIFA's corporate governance, and the FIFA Ethics Committee will be strengthened.[5]
- UAE residency motion
A motion bought by the United Arab Emirates Football Association to relax eligibility rules for foreign-born players was rejected by 153 to 42, with 11 abstentions. The motion argued that players 18 or older could switch countries after three years' residence instead of five.[6] The president of the UAE football association Mohamed al-Rumaithi argued that the proposed change was good for countries trying to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.[6] The motion was also supported by the UAE Football League and Srečko Katanec, the head coach of the United Arab Emirates national football team.[6] The proposal was interpreted as a way for rich countries to attract foreign players with offers of citizenship.[7]
2011 presidential election
The election for the presidency of FIFA was held on the second day of the congress. The incumbent, Sepp Blatter of Switzerland, was elected in 1998. Blatter won two previous presidential elections in 2002 and 2007. Blatter was the sole candidate for the presidency,[8] after the only other candidate, Qatari Mohammed bin Hammam withdrew from the presidential race on 28 May.[8]
The English Football Association (FA) vowed not to take part in the presidential vote citing a "well-reported range of issues...which made it difficult to support either candidate".[9] On 31 May the FA and the Scottish Football Association called for the presidential election to be postponed. The FA also called for the appointment of an "independent external party to make recommendations regarding improved governance and compliance procedures and structures throughout the FIFA decision making processes for consideration by the full membership".[10] The FA's stance was supported by the President of the FA, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.[11] The chairman of the FA, David Bernstein put a proposal to congress to delay the presidential vote, this was opposed by 172 of 206 voters. The FA's proposal was later criticized by members from the Congolese Association Football Federation, Benin Football Federation, Haitian Football Federation, Fiji Football Association and the Cyprus Football Association.[12] The senior vice-president of FIFA and president of the Argentine Football Association, Julio Grondona, retorted "We always have attacks from England which are mostly lies with the support of journalism which is more busy lying than telling the truth...It looks like England is always complaining...I say will you leave the FIFA family alone, and when you speak, speak with truth."[12]
The President of the Malian Football Federation, Hammadoun Kolado Cisse, announced his desire for FIFA's General Assembly rather than the FIFA Executive Committee to make the final decision on which countries host the World Cup. Cisse said that "If every country can vote on who hosts the event, that will cut down on corruption because you can't corrupt 203 federations."[13]
On 1 June Blatter was re-elected president for a fourth term unopposed, with 186 of the 203 votes in his favour.[14][15][16]
Bin Hammam presidential campaign
The head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar, announced his candidacy in March 2011. Bin Hammam said that if elected he would establish a transparency committee. Bin Hammam said that Blatter was "an experienced person, he has made significant contribution to football worldwide but I believe there is a time limit for everything. There is now a time for a new face and a new heir."[17] Bin Hammam had supported Blatter's 1998 and 2002 presidential campaigns but admitted that he had fallen out with Blatter over issues within the FIFA Executive Committee. In August 2010 Bin Hammam had vowed not to run against Blatter saying that "I will be backing him to remain in office for a new mandate. He is my very good friend".[18]
Bin Hammam said that FIFA should make voting for World Cups an open process where it was made public which bid executive members had voted for. If such a vote was public Bin Hammam said it would "cut the doubts in FIFA back to zero...I don't see any reason why we should not vote openly." He also vowed to limit the President of FIFA to a maximum of eight years in office.[19]
On 25 May, following allegations by FIFA Executive Committee (ExCo) member Chuck Blazer, Bin Hammam was charged with offering bribes for votes and appeared before FIFA's ethics committee on 29 May. Bin Hammam withdrew from the presidential race the day before the ethics committee stating that "It saddens me that standing up for the causes that I believed in has come at a great price...I cannot allow the game that I love to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals. The game itself and the people who love it around the world must come first."[20]
Blatter presidential campaign
The incumbent President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter ran for a fourth consecutive term, having been elected in 1998, and reelected in 2002 and 2007.
On 13 May Blatter warned that FIFA would be plunged into "a black hole" if Bin Hammam won the election.[21] Of the vote Blatter said that "The ballot could lead to a seismic shift with irreversible damage...Quite simply, the survival of FIFA is at stake."[21]
Before the election it was announced that the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had held a secret ballot at which they had passed a motion to support Blatter in the presidential election.[13] However, the individual national federations that make up CAF are not obliged to follow the motion.[13]
Blatter vowed that only "the FIFA family" could prevent his re-election as president on 1 June,[22] and said that the congress of national federations will "decide if I am a valid or a non-valid candidate, or if I am a valid or non-valid president."[22] Opening the congress Blatter said "I thought that we were living in a world of fair play, mutual respect and discipline...this is not the case any longer...because our pyramid of FIFA is suddenly unstable on its basis and there's a danger."[23]
Voting results
| 61st FIFA Congress June 1, 2011 – Zürich, Switzerland | |
| Candidate | Round 1 |
|---|---|
 Sepp Blatter |
186 |
| against | 17 |
2015 corruption case
Allegations of vote buying in the 2011 FIFA presidential election were included in the 2015 FIFA corruption case, which led to the arrests of fourteen FIFA and FIFA-related officials on 27 May 2015. These incitements were brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, as U.S. banks are alleged to have been used for money laundering and bribery.[24]
