FIFA president Sepp Blatter arrived here Friday to meet African football chiefs as his campaign for another four-year term moves into overdrive. The 75-year-old Blatter is slugging it out with Qatari billionaire Mohamed bin Hammam, 13 years his junior, for the right to rule the international football kingdom over the coming four years.
A secret June 1 ballot at FIFA headquarters in Zurich in which each of 208 member states has one vote will determine whether Blatter wins a fourth term or Hammam becomes the first president from Asia. There are 53 African votes up for grabs and many international observers believe the continent could hold the key to a race Blatter believes he "cannot lose" and Hammam rates a "50-50" duel. Blatter secured the majority of African votes when he shocked Swede Lennart Johansson in Paris 13 years ago despite Cairo-based continental governing body CAF supporting the veteran European. And when CAF president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon took on Blatter in South Korea four years later, he suffered a resounding defeat with many African delegates voting against their boss.