Sepp Blatter

Sepp Blatter studied economics at the University of Lausanne, graduating in 1958. He then worked several jobs, including Secretary of the Wallis Traffic Federation (1959-64), Central Secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (1964-66), Press Chief for the Swiss Sports Association (1966-68), and as director of public work for Longines.

In 1975 Blatter began work with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), initially serving as director of technical development. He rose to secretary-general of FIFA in 1981, under long-time President João Havelange, and in 1990 Blatter was made CEO. In June 1998 Blatter was chosen to succeed Havelange as President of FIFA. In that role he ascended to membership in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999.

In the early 2010s multiple scandals and controversies enveloped FIFA and Blatter’s Presidency. There were allegations of illegal payments to FIFA officials from a marketing partner, International Sports and Leisure (ISL), but a FIFA Ethics Committee report, released in April 2013 exonerated Blatter of any misconduct. However, Havelange resigned as FIFA Honorary President after the report implicated him in receiving illegal payments.

Blatter stood for his fourth term as FIFA President in May 2015 and was re-elected. However, because of the continuing scandal and investigations he abruptly resigned from that position only four days after his re-election, stating that he would only serve until the FIFA Congress in February 2016. In October 2015 he was suspended by FIFA while investigations continued into alleged payments to UEFA President Michel Platini. In December he and Platini were banned from football for eight years by the FIFA Ethics Committee, although this was later reduced to six years. Blatter concurrently resigned from the IOC.

Blatter continued to fight legal battles relating to his role as FIFA President. In December 2020 FIFA filed a criminal complaint against him for his role in the FIFA Museum. In March 2021 he received a second ban from football of six years and was fined CHF 1,000,000 after a probe into bonus payments. In November 2021 Blatter was charged by Swiss authorities for fraud and falsifying documents related to the alleged payments to Platini, but both Blatter and Platini were cleared of those charges in 2022.