Joseph (Sepp) Blatter: biography

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

The name of Joseph Blatter, who headed FIFA for many years in a row, was recognized in May-June 2015 even by people who are very far from sports. The whole world started talking about him, and the reason for this, as usual, was a scandal. What else, besides appearing in international showdowns, is the personality of this person remarkable?

Childhood and youth of the future FIFA president

Joseph (Sepp) Blatter was born shortly before the outbreak of World War II in one of the most reliable and prosperous countries in Europe. The birthday of the son of an auto mechanic and his wife from the Swiss town of Visp (which at that time was a commune) fell on March 10, 1936.

The boy's parents had nothing to do with sports, but Blatter's love for football appeared quite early.

Passion entered Josef's life during his studies. Which, by the way, first took place in one of the local schools, and then in the schools of Sion and St. Moritz. At the age of twelve, the boy became a member of one of the amateur football clubs and played for it for 23 years - until 1971.

But most likelyJoseph Sepp Blatter did not think in his youth that football would become the basis of his career. Because after school he chose the University of Lausanne, where he studied law. The studies were successful, and already in 1956, the young Sepp Blatter became the proud owner of a diploma. Which, however, was never fully used by him…

The first steps of a career in the sports field

Immediately after graduating from the university, Blatter was accepted into the Sports Journalists Association. And three years later, he gets a job at the Tourist Board of the canton of Valais, where he heads the public relations department. In this post, Sepp Blatter spent five years of his life (from 59th to 64th), and then plunged into the sport with his head and no longer “surfaced”.

The first serious step on the ladder of a sports career for Blatter was his work in the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation, which began in the 64th year. Here he made his debut as a manager, acting as General Secretary.

From 1970 to 1975, the future FIFA President served on the Board of Directors of the Xamax Football Club (Switzerland).

As an employee of one of the Swiss watch companies, Sepp Blatter took an active part in the preparations for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and 1976 in Montreal, which gave him invaluable experience and became a springboard for the next achievements.

By the way, there is information that it was Blatter who judged the scandalous match between the basketball teams of the USSR and the USA in 1972 (held within the framework ofMunich Summer Olympics). Sports fans remember that the referee then insisted on three unfinished seconds. And it was they who determined the fate of the match, allowing the Soviet basketball players to win.

Fifa summit

In 1975, Blatter first "opened the doors" of the International Football Federation. And immediately received the position of technical director of FIFA. And in 1981 he "jumped" even higher, becoming the Secretary General of this most prestigious organization. And was such until 1998.

In 1998, the next (51st already in a row) FIFA Congress took place in Paris, during which Joseph Blatter was elected the new president of the federation. In this post, he replaced the Brazilian Joao Havelange, defeating the Swede Lennart Johannson, head of UEFA at that time, in the election campaign.

Sepp Blatter spent 17 years in the FIFA presidency until the summer of 2015.

Historic Decisions

Sepp Blatter, whose biography is inextricably linked with the International Football Federation, has managed to do a lot for nearly 40 years of work in it. And even went down in history as the author of important innovations.

For example, while still in the position of technical director, Blatter began to implement serious educational programs in the football field and laid the foundation for holding world championships among players whose age does not exceed twenty and seventeen years. Also, with his light hand, women's futsal championships began to be held in the world.

When Joseph Blatter was president of FIFA, the World Cupfor the first time in the history of football took place simultaneously in two countries. It happened in 2002, and the hosts of the competition were then South Korea and Japan.

The Swiss has always been against major changes in football rules. In particular, it did not support the introduction of video replays. But it was this man who introduced the automatic goal fixing system, which was tested during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Scandals

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has repeatedly found himself at the center of high-profile scandals of various kinds.

Thus, almost at the very beginning of Blatter's presidency - in 2001 - his name was embroiled in a scandal involving the bankruptcy of one of the companies that was a partner of the federation.

In 2010, the head of FIFA joked unsuccessfully about the World Cup in Qatar and homosexual fans, who, they say, will have to give up sex in this country. After a wave of indignation swept through the world, Blatter had to apologize and justify himself. He said that he did not want to offend gays, and from the authorities of Qatar, with its taboo on non-traditional orientation, he intends to demand tolerance.

And after only a year - in 2011 - a new scandal erupted, now connected with money. Everything happened on the eve of the next FIFA presidential election, and Sepp Blatter's rival Mohammed bin Hammam accused him of involvement in corruption schemes. The plan didn't work. The opponent was left out of work, and the Swiss was re-elected for a new term.

But perhaps the loudest was the conflict of 2015, when a certain circleof persons had doubts about the legality of the choice of Russia and Qatar to be the host countries of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. respectively. The main initiators of the proceedings were the Americans.

They accused the top of FIFA (in particular, Blatter's deputies) of a long-standing corrupt policy and dishonesty schemes when choosing venues for the championships. More than a dozen employees of the federation were arrested. And all this - again on the eve of the elections for the presidency of FIFA.

As a result, a special commission of the International Football Federation conducted an investigation and did not find the alleged violations regarding Russia and Qatar. But 80-year-old Sepp Blatter still won the election - his rival Ali bin Al-Hussein unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy at the last moment.

The elections were held on May 29, and already on June 2, the re-elected president resigned… And two days later, the Americans brought charges against him personally.

Sepp Blatter prefers not to speak much about the USA and claims against his person. The only thing he allowed himself was to express bewilderment and shock at the accusations.

Blatter Awards

But not only the scandals "grew" on Blatter's labor field. In his piggy bank there are many awards from different countries of the world, as well as international level. The main order is, of course, the Olympian. And besides him - orders and crosses of France, Venezuela, Djibouti, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, South Africa, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Catalonia and Ukraine.

Private life

In his personal life Sepp Blatterturned out to be far from being as constant as in his work. He has three marriages and three divorces. From the first wife there is a daughter. And the second wife was 41 years younger than Josef!