Blatter named FIFA President again

Zurich: Sepp Blatter was given a third term as President of world soccer's governing body after standing as the only candidate at Thursday's FIFA Congress.

The Swiss succeeded Joao Havelange after a bitter election campaign against former UEFA president Lennart Johansson in 1998 and was re-elected four years later when he defeated Issa Hayatou, president of the African confederation CAF.

Blatter's second term lasted for five years rather than the usual four when FIFA decided not to end the president's term of office in the same year as the World Cup finals in Germany.

The 71-year-old, the eighth president in FIFA's 103-year history, is expected to remain in charge until at least 2011. Blatter joined FIFA as technical director in 1975 and was general secretary from 1981 until 1998.

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