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
Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal answer to allegations. There were also suspicions that Qatar (Bin Hammam's nation) had won the rights to the host the 2022 World Cup by bribing FIFA Executive Officers. In the run-up to the FIFA Presidency elections that would place at the 61st FIFA Congress, FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his electoral opposition Mohammed Bin Hammam were expected to meet with CONCACAF delegates to persuade them who to vote for. Sepp Blatter met with all members of the CFU when they met on 3 May 2011 at the annual CONCACAF Congress at the JW Marriott hotel in Miami, Florida along with