Sepp Blatter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sepp Blatter
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Blatter in 2015
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| 8th President of FIFA | |
| In office 8 June 1998 – 21 December 2015 |
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| Preceded by | João Havelange |
| Succeeded by | Issa Hayatou (acting) Gianni Infantino |
| Secretary General of FIFA | |
| In office June 1981 – 8 June 1998 |
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| Preceded by | Helmut Käser |
| Succeeded by | Michel Zen-Ruffinen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Josef Blatter
10 March 1936 Visp, Valais, Switzerland |
| Spouses | Liliane Biner (divorced) Barbara Käser
(m. 1981; died 1991)Graziella Bianca
(m. 2002; div. 2004) |
| Domestic partners | Ilona Boguska (1995–2002) Linda Barras (2014–present) |
| Children | 1 |
| Residences | Zürich, Switzerland |
| Alma mater | University of Lausanne |
| Signature |  |
Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football leader. He was the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. FIFA is the organization that runs international football.
Blatter was later banned from FIFA activities. This happened in 2015 because of issues that came to light that year. His ban will last until 2027.
Before becoming president, Blatter worked in business and sports. He became the general secretary of FIFA in 1981. He was then elected president on 8 June 1998. He took over from João Havelange, who had led FIFA since 1974. Blatter was re-elected four times: in 2002, 2007, 2011, and 2015.
During his time, Blatter helped grow football around the world. He increased the number of teams from Africa and Asia in FIFA tournaments. This led to the controversial decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Qatar is a small country with less football history.
Under Blatter's leadership, FIFA's income from the World Cup grew a lot. However, there were also many claims of problems with how money was handled.
On 2 June 2015, Blatter announced he would step down. This was after some FIFA officials faced legal issues. He said he would stay until a new president was chosen. In September 2015, Swiss officials started looking into Blatter's actions.
In October 2015, Blatter was suspended. In December, the FIFA Ethics Committee removed him from office. They banned him from FIFA for eight years. This ban was later reduced to six years. In 2021, he received another six-year ban and a large fine. Issa Hayatou became acting president. Then, Gianni Infantino was elected as the 9th president of FIFA.
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Early Life and Career
Blatter was born in Visp, Switzerland. His birth name was Josef. He studied business and economics at the University of Lausanne. He earned his degree in 1959.
Blatter had a varied career before joining FIFA. He worked in public relations for his home region's tourist board. He also served as the general secretary for the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. He was also involved in organizing the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games.
Blatter's Time at FIFA
Blatter started working at FIFA in 1975. He first served as technical director until 1981. Then he became general secretary until 1998. In 1998, he was elected FIFA president. He was re-elected in 2002 and again in 2007.
His time as president often faced questions and claims. These included concerns about how money was managed. There were also issues around the choice of Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
Blatter also received criticism for some of his public statements. For example, at the 2014 FIFA World Cup seeding, he stopped a moment of silence for Nelson Mandela too early. This upset many people.
He was also booed by crowds at several events. These included the World Cup in Seoul in 2002 and the Confederations Cup in Frankfurt in 2005. To avoid protests, no speeches were given at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The 1998 Election for President
Blatter's election as FIFA president in 1998 was quite debated. He won against UEFA President Lennart Johansson. There were rumors of money issues and secret deals. One person even claimed they were offered money to vote for Blatter.
Comments on Women's Football
In 2004, Blatter made comments about women's football. He suggested women players wear "more feminine clothes" like "tighter shorts." He said this would make the sport more popular. These comments caused a lot of strong reactions and criticism.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup Match
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, there was a very tough match between Portugal and the Netherlands. The referee, Valentin Ivanov, gave out a record 16 yellow cards and four red cards. Blatter later criticized the referee's performance. He even said Ivanov should have given himself a yellow card. Blatter later said he regretted his words. He promised to apologize, but he never did. The referee was removed from future matches.
Rules on Foreign Players
In 2007 and 2008, Blatter tried to change rules about foreign players. He wanted to limit the number of foreign players on football clubs. His idea was to allow only five foreign players per team. The rest would be from the team's own country. He believed this would help national teams by having more local players.
Blatter often pointed to the English Premier League as an example. He said it had too many foreign players, coaches, and owners.
Choosing World Cup Locations
There were reports that Blatter made a deal with UEFA head Michel Platini. This deal was to make sure Europe would host the 2018 World Cup. If non-European countries didn't drop their bids for 2018, they wouldn't get support for the 2022 tournament.
Eleven bids were made in 2009 for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Some countries, like Mexico, later pulled out. In the end, Russia was chosen for 2018 and Qatar for 2022. The choice of Qatar was very controversial.
Using Technology in Football
Blatter did not want to use goal-line technology or video replays in games. This caused a lot of criticism. The debate grew after a controversial disallowed goal for Frank Lampard in a match between England and Germany in 2010.
Two days later, Blatter said he was sorry for the "clear referee mistakes." He apologized to the English and Mexican football groups. He admitted Lampard's goal should have counted. He also said a goal against Mexico was offside. He then said FIFA would look into goal-line technology again. He promised changes to improve refereeing.
The 2011 FIFA Presidential Election
In 2011, Blatter ran for his fourth term as FIFA president. Another candidate, Mohammed bin Hammam, dropped out just before the vote. Bin Hammam had supported Blatter in earlier elections. However, they had disagreed on some issues.
The FIFA ethics committee looked into claims against Bin Hammam. They found no evidence that Blatter knew about any issues. Blatter also criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He said FIFA managed its money "like a housewife."
Since there were no other candidates, Blatter ran unopposed. He was re-elected for his fourth term. He received 186 out of 203 votes. During his campaign, Blatter had said he would not run for president again after 2011.
Financial Management Concerns
Blatter's deputy, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, created a report. It claimed there were problems with how FIFA managed its money. The report said FIFA lost a lot of money when its marketing partner, ISL, went bankrupt.
These claims were given to Swiss authorities. However, they found no wrongdoing by Blatter. FIFA had to pay all the costs. Blatter stopped an internal FIFA investigation. This was because some members broke privacy rules. He then removed Zen-Ruffinen from his job.
In 2012, a report from the Council of Europe was published. It suggested it was "difficult to imagine" Blatter did not know about large payments to FIFA officials. These payments were linked to World Cup TV rights.
After Leaving FIFA
Since leaving FIFA, Blatter has spoken out about football's leadership. He has criticized current FIFA president Gianni Infantino and UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin. Blatter noted that FIFA was not a powerful organization when he started. He admitted he played a big part in making football more commercial.
Blatter has said that giving the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar was a mistake. He has also criticized the growth of tournaments like the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League. He warned that too many games, rising costs, and fan violence could make people lose interest in football.
He also criticized the choice of six countries across three continents for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. He felt the tournament would lose its special identity. Blatter also spoke against the 2034 FIFA World Cup in Saudi Arabia. He said it went against FIFA's values of human rights and democracy.
Awards and Recognition
Blatter has received many awards, medals, and honorary degrees. These came from countries, sports groups, universities, and cities.
However, in October 2015, De Montfort University took back his honorary degree. They had given it to him for his ethical conduct.
Personal Life
In 1981, Blatter changed the spelling of his first name from Josef to Joseph. He later started using his nickname, Sepp, as his middle name.
Blatter has one daughter. He has been married three times. His first wife was Liliane Biner. His second wife, Barbara Käser, was the daughter of his predecessor as FIFA secretary general. She passed away in 1991. His third marriage was to Graziella Bianca in 2002, but they divorced in 2004. Since 2014, he has been with Linda Barras.
Blatter was raised as a Catholic.
See also
In Spanish: Joseph Blatter para niños
- United Passions, a 2014 film about FIFA, with Tim Roth playing Blatter
Images for kids
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Blatter in 2015
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Blatter's signature
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Blatter (left) with João Havelange, President of FIFA (April 1982).
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Blatter at Zurich Train station in November 2013
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Blatter with Barack Obama and Jack Warner.
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Blatter (right) with Luis Suárez, the Player of the Tournament of the 2011 Copa América.
