51st FIFA Congress and president of the European football governing body UEFA Lennart Johansson considered the favourite to win. Johansson's rival was the Swiss-German football executive Joseph "Sepp" Blatter who had previously been an executive at the Swiss watch manufactures Longines and had served as the general secretary of FIFA since 1981. The first round of voting in the election did not produce a clear victor, with Blatter receiving 111 votes to Johansson's 80, but Johansson conceded victory. 51st FIFA Congress The 51st FIFA Congress was held between 6 and 8 June 1998, at the Equinox congress hall in Paris, France, just before
53rd FIFA Congress 53rd FIFA Congress The 53rd FIFA Congress was held in May 2002 in Seoul, South Korea before the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It was the annual meeting of the international governing body of association football FIFA. The congress saw the re-election of Joseph "Sepp" Blatter as the President of FIFA. The election for the President of FIFA was held at the congress, with the incumbent, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter facing a challenge from the Cameroonian football executive and president of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou. Blatter won with 139 of the 195 votes cast. Like the previous presidential election