17 February 2011 - Viva La Rewahlution!

On 17 February 2011, American journalist Grant Wahl announced his candidacy for FIFA President, running on a platform of transparency and a pledge to clean up the global football authority.

When Wahl made his announcement, FIFA and incumbent president Sepp Blatter were the focus of extensive criticism in the wake of alleged bribery scandals and the controversial decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar despite concerns about the weather and the country's need to develop an extensive infrastructure in a relatively short period of time. The two leading candidates for president were Blatter, running for his fourth consecutive term, and Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA Executive Committee member.

Wahl, a writer for Sports Illustrated, announced his intention to run on the Sports Illustrated website. He assured readers that his candidacy was serious and promised reforms including the use of goal-line technology and the public release of all of FIFA's internal documents. All he needed to become an official candidate was a nomination from any one of FIFA's 208 member associations.

Although his campaign received a tremendous amount of popular support (he got 95% of the vote in an online poll and garnered a swell of encouragement among both celebrities and grassroots supporters), he was unable to convince any association to nominate him. While several members told him they would support him if nominated (votes were taken by secret ballot), they declined to submit his name, because the nomination process was public and they feared reprisals from FIFA.

In April, shortly before the close of the deadline for nominations, Wahl ended his candidacy. Bin Hammam similarly suspended his own campaign, leaving the unopposed Blatter to win his fourth term.

8 June 1998 - FIFA Gets Blattered

On 8 June 1998, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter became president of FIFA, winning an election against Swedish challenger Lennart Johansson. Shortly afterward, rumors of corruption surfaced and continue to surround Blatter to this day.

He won the election by a vote count of 111 to 80 to replace outgoing president João Havelange, who had served since 1974. Johansson immediately raised concerns about the manner in which Blatter won the election. Then, only a few months after the election, British author David Yallop published How They Stole The Game, a book about FIFA that included allegations that Blatter's votes were acquired through bribery. According to Yallop, an unnamed Middle Eastern ruler distributed a total of $1 million among 20 FIFA delegates prior to the election in return for their switching their votes from Johansson to Blatter.

Blatter successfully sued to ban the book's publication in his home country of Switzerland, but lost similar legal battles in Holland, Germany, Austria, and Brazil. The Dutch judge who rejected Blatter's request for an injunction in Holland urged FIFA to conduct an internal inquiry, but Blatter dismissed the advice, responding "Why should I? I cannot open an inquiry into myself. The elections are now finished."

Rumors of bribery and other forms of corruption have followed Blatter ever since, including allegations raised before his re-election in 2002. Those claims went to a Zurich court, who cleared Blatter of any personal involvement. In the most recent election, conducted last week, Blatter ran unopposed after his challenger, Mohammed bin Hammam, withdrew in the face of charges of bribery raised by a FIFA ethics committee.

16 January 2004 - How Popular Is Women's Volleyball, Anyway?

On 16 January 2004, FIFA President Sepp Blatter drew criticism for suggesting that female footballers could increase their appeal by wearing, among other things, tighter shorts.

During a discussion on ways to improve the popularity of women's football, Blatter said "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball. They could, for example, have tighter shorts." He went on to say "Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men, such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?"

Predictably, the response from female footballers was not enthusiastic. England goalkeeper Pauline Cope remarked that Blatter "doesn't know what he is talking about. We don't use a lighter ball for one thing, and to say we should play football in hotpants is plain ridiculous." Fulham manager Marieanne Spacey pointed out that "Ten years ago, we did play in tighter shorts. Nobody paid attention then."

The incident was neither the first nor last time Blatter has received criticism. As soon as he took the post of FIFA president in 2002, rumors immediately surfaced claiming he had bribed his way to the office. More recently, he came under fire for saying that homosexuals worried about traveling to Qatar for the 2o22 World Cup should "refrain from any sexual activities" while there (see video).

17 May 2004 - Horse And Armor Not Included, Apparently

On 17 May 2004, FIFA President Joseph S. "Sepp" Blatter was knighted as a member of the French Légion d'Honneur by French President Jacques Chirac in a ceremony held at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Blatter was born in Visp, Switzerland in 1936. He began working for FIFA in 1975 as Technical Director. In 1981, he became the organization's General Secretary and then, in 1998, its President. He initiated several changes to football, including the elimination of the "golden goal" rule, in which a match ends immediately upon the first goal scored in extra time, in favor of the "silver goal" rule, in which the match ends at the first half of the extra time period if one team is ahead and, if tied, continues to the end of the second half of extra time. Also, after the 2002 World Cup, he eliminated automatic World Cup qualification for the defending champion.

Blatter has also drawn his share of criticism for making controversial statements, including the suggestion in 2004 that women footballers should wear "tighter shorts" and his 2008 accusation that Manchester United was engaging in "modern slavery" by blocking Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid.

The Légion d'Honneur was created by Napoleon Bonaparte to reward military achievements and other forms of service to France.