Sepp Blatter Re-elected Fifa President

Sepp Blatter

Sepp Blatter has been re-elected president of Fifa, football's world governing body, in a vote overshadowed by arrests and corruption allegations.

Mr Blatter's rival, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, withdrew after the first round of voting.

Mr Blatter fell seven short of the two-thirds needed, but Prince Ali opted not to contest further.

Seven top officials were arrested in Switzerland on Wednesday as part of a US prosecution that indicted 14 people.

Mr Blatter, 79, has faced calls to resign, including from UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who said in Berlin on Thursday that Mr Blatter should quit "the sooner the better".

'Current storm'

The vote took place at Fifa's congress in Zurich.

A candidate needed 140 votes to win in the first round.

The two candidates had earlier delivered final appeals to the electors.

Sepp Blatter

Analysis: Matthew Kenyon, BBC Sport

If you read most of the world's media, Sepp Blatter's ability to hang on to power at Fifa is nothing short of miraculous.

After years of negative headlines, the frenzy has reached fever pitch in the wake of the US allegations of corruption - even though Mr Blatter himself has not been implicated. And running through all this is a theme - bemusement that much of the football world keeps voting for him.

Nowhere is Sepp Blatter's support stronger than across Asia and Africa. So why do most of the representatives from those two continents appear to be voting for him again?

Here's about as succinct an answer as you're going to get - from the president of the Nigerian Football Federation: "Blatter feels Africa. What Blatter pushes is equity, fairness and equality among the nations."

We're talking about two things - the first is concrete investment, often literally so. The second is respect.

Source: BBC