Blatter Re-elected FIFA President As Opponent Bows Out Before Next Round Of Voting

Joseph "Sepp" Blatter was re-elected to a fifth four-year term as head of FIFA, the global ruling body for soccer (or football, as the sport is called outside the U.S.) after his lone opponent, Prince Ali bin al Hussein, a FIFA vice president from Jordan, pulled out after the first round. Blatter had fallen short of the two-thirds majority needed for a first-round victory. A simple majority was required in the second round. The vote comes two days after the U.S. Justice Department charged 14 people, including nine current and former soccer officials, with corruption over a 24-year span.