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
Baku Olympic Stadium and FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini, prominent members of the global football community, heads of various federations, football veterans and other guests. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was informed about the future plans for the construction of the stadium. Speaking at the ceremony, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said: Ilham Aliyev placed a symbolic metal capsule inside a football. His son Heydar Aliyev, scoring a goal in a symbolic gate, dropped the ball into the foundation. The President, with Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, operated a switch starting the concrete pour, and signed a soccer ball, which was