Sepp Blatter Sepp Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born 10 March 1936) is a Swiss football administrator who was the eighth President of the FIFA (French: "Fédération Internationale de Football Association") from 1998 to 2015. He is currently serving a six-year ban from participating in FIFA activities. From a background in business, public relations, and sports administration, Blatter became general secretary of FIFA in 1981 and was then elected president at the 51st FIFA Congress on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange, who had headed the organization since 1974. Blatter was reelected in 2002, 2007, 2011, and 2015. Like his predecessor Havelange, Blatter
Belgium–Netherlands 2018 FIFA World Cup bid any matches or automatically qualify for the finals in a successful Benelux bid, but would host a FIFA congress. Belgium and the Netherlands registered their intention to bid jointly in March 2009. A delegation led by the presidents of the Belgian and Dutch national football associations met FIFA president Sepp Blatter on 14 November 2007, officially announcing their interest in submitting a joint bid. On 19 March 2008 the delegation also met with UEFA President Michel Platini to convince him that it was a serious offer under one management. Afterwards they claimed to have impressed Platini, who supports the idea