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
ChangeFIFA of the magnitude and importance of such a distinguished job". In the 2011 elections, incumbent Sepp Blatter, who has been FIFA president for 13 years, won a mandate for another 4-year term, by a margin of 172 votes to 17, with 17 abstaining. On 2 June 2015, Sepp Blatter resigned as president of FIFA in the wake of corruption indictments of FIFA officials. ChangeFIFA ChangeFIFA was a campaign organisation, established in 2010 with the stated aim of making FIFA, the ruling body of world soccer, more "fair and accountable". The organisation was created in June 2010 by English fan Oliver