FIFA President Joao Havelange, FIFA General Secretay Joseph Blatter, and Lenart Johansson, chief of Europe's governing body UEFA and a FIFA vice-president, at the press conference in Zurich, May 31, 1996.
sports association administrator president of Association
Sports activities:
- Active footballer from 1948 to 1971 (played for the Swiss amateur league in the top division)
- Member of the Board of Xamax Neuchatel FC from 1970 to 1975
- Member of the Panathlon Club (society of sports managers)
- Since 1956 member of the Swiss Association of Sportswriters
- Since 1999 member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Joseph Blatter began his professional career as Head of Public Relations of the Valaisan Tourist Board in Switzerland and then became General Secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (1964). He then pursued journalistic and public relations activities in the fields of sport and private industry. As Director of Sports Timing and Public Relations of Longines S.A., he was involved in the organisation of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games.
Since 1975, Blatter has been working at FIFA, first as Technical Director (1975–1981), then General Secretary (1981–1998), before his election as FIFA President in 1998. He was re-elected as head of FIFA in 2002, and was re-elected unopposed for another four years on 31 May 2007, even though only 66 of 207 FIFA members nominated him.
In 1981 the Executive Committee of the world governing body designated the multilingual Blatter as the new General Secretary and in 1990 promoted him to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A total of five World Cups were staged under his auspices (Spain in 1982, Mexico in 1986, Italy in 1990, USA in 1994 and France in 1998). At the same time he played a leading role in the negotiations for the television and marketing contracts and the modern commercialisation of the FIFA World Cup up to the year 2006 alongside his predecessor in the presidency, Joao Havelange.
At the end of March 1998 the direct support and the interest manifested by numerous national associations from all the confederations prompted him to stand at the 1998 FIFA Congress presidential election as their candidate. Joseph S. Blatter was re-elected for a second term on 29 May 2002 in Seoul. On Thursday 31 May, Joseph S. Blatter was confirmed, by acclamation, in the position for a third term of office and he was elected to a fourth term on 1 June 2011.
Joseph S. Blatter is one of the most versatile and experienced exponents of international sports diplomacy and is totally committed to serving football, FIFA and the youth of the world.
The FIFA President's many years of service in various domains of world football have given him the know-how and vision which are the prerequisites for steering football into the new millennium and for mastering the array of challenges in modern-day football. By setting up a permanent communications network based on state-of-the-art technology, Blatter aims to integrate not only the principal male protagonists into world football's decision-making process but increasingly also their female counterparts - women players, coaches and referees. He also aims at closer cooperation with the confederations, national associations, leagues and clubs and a more open dialogue with FIFA's economic, political, social and cultural partners.
Joseph S. Blatter intends to ensure that football makes a valuable contribution towards improving public health standards by means of relevant technical and scientific research thus proving that it plays an extremely important role in society in a variety of ways.
For many years, Joseph S. Blatter has also been committed to a wide range of humanitarian projects, since he believes that football bears a responsibility to society.
Joseph S. Blatter was the driving force behind a partnership with SOS Children's Villages that started in 1994. This organisation maintains more than 130 villages for children all over the world and it benefits from FIFA's financial and material support.
Since he was elected FIFA President in June 1998, Joseph S. Blatter has formed an alliance with the United Nations children's organisation, UNICEF, and he co-launched the campaign "Pure Hope, Pure Football".
Blatter also lends aid to refugee camps by providing them with football equipment, and he and FIFA are very much committed to fighting child labour. For that reason FIFA has, under his chairmanship, signed a code of conduct with the ILO, the United Nations International Labour Organisation.
Joseph S. Blatter is also member of the Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency, as an IOC representative in this important entity.
"Football for all, all for football" – is said to be his motto.