Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter (born March 10, 1936, Visp, Wallis, Switzerland) was elected president of FIFA on June 8, 1998, succeeding Dr. Joćo Havelange (Brazil).
Born in the Swiss town of Visp, he graduated from the Sion and St. Maurice colleges in Switzerland before gaining a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Economics from the Faculty of Law at Lausanne University.
His long and varied career curriculum involves posts like Head of Public Relations of the Valaisan Tourist Board in his native Switzerland, General Secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation; as Director of Sports Timing and Public Relations of Longines S.A he was involved in the organization of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. Since 1975 he has been working at FIFA as Technical Director (1975-1981), and General Secretary (1981-1998).
His election and victory over UEFA President Lennart Johansson were marked with controversy. His incumbency has been marked with rumors of financial irregularities and backroom dealings, culminating in 2002 with direct accusations of bribery made in the press by the Somali FA member Farra Ado of an offer of $100,000 to vote for Blatter. Although Blatter was re-elected in 2002 and remains in his post (as of December 2004), many questions regarding his integrity remain unanswered.
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