ZURICH – Stung by allegations of mismanagement and corruption, Sepp Blatter held onto his spot as the leader of world soccer Wednesday, winning a one-man election derided as a “coronation.”
The 75-year-old Swiss who has headed the sport virtually unchallenged for 13 years struck a rare note of humility in a speech short on specifics that promised to reform an ethics committee and provide more transparency in decision-making.
“We have been hit and I personally have been slapped,” Blatter told delegates to the sport’s congress. “I don’t want that ever again.”
Blatter won a fourth four-year term as head of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, by receiving 186 out of 203 votes in an election during the congress in which his was the only name on the ballot. His sole challenger, Qatari executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam, withdrew from the race last weekend amid bribery allegations.
The election capped a period of several months in which FIFA has been buffeted by a swirl of corruption allegations, bid scandals, internal infighting and match-fixing cases that have scarred the credibility of the organization and the world’s most popular sport.
The votes in December to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to
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