OMNISPORT

Sepp Blatter has been re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term.

Blatter defeated challenger Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on Friday, when the latter conceded defeat after the first round of voting.

Blatter had missed out on the required two-thirds majority in the first ballot - receiving 133 votes to his rival's 73 - but Prince Ali took to the stage to withdraw before a second round could begin.

The result came at the end of a day that had been interrupted by a protest and an anonymous security threat at the Hallenstadion.

The elections took place against a backdrop of controversy following the news on Wednesday that nine past and present FIFA officials were among 14 people indicted on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and corruption by United States authorities.

Many had called for the elections to be postponed in light of the developments, while others – including UEFA president Michel Platini – urged Blatter to step aside before the vote.

But the Swiss defiantly refused to heed those calls, saying in his address to delegates that he would "shoulder the responsibility to fix FIFA".

And he will now be given the mandate to carry forward that pledge, having been voted back into football’s top job by a majority of the 209 member associations.

However, Blatter appears likely to face a number of challenges in the early days of his new term, with Platini having previously stated that the UEFA member nations could boycott all FIFA competitions – including the World Cup – should Blatter be re-elected.

FIFA vice-president David Gill, meanwhile, threatened to stand down from the Executive Committee in the event of a Blatter victory.

The fall-out from the indictment of those implicated officials looks set to rumble on, while a separate Swiss investigation into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar could yet cause further headaches for Blatter and FIFA.