A representative of Bangladesh throws his ballot paper into a voting booth during elections for the next FIFA president at the 65th FIFA Congress held at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 29, 2015. (Photo: AP)
May 28, 2015
1st round over in 2015 FIFA presidential vote
ZURICH (AP) — Voting has finished in the first round of balloting to choose FIFA’s next president.
Delegates from the world soccer body’s 209 members can give President Sepp Blatter a fifth, four-year term in office or pick his 39-year-old challenger, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.
A second round of voting will take place if neither gets two-thirds of the votes cast Friday.
The voting comes two days after US officials charged 14 people, including nine FIFA officials, with participating in a vast, decades-long bribery scheme tied to the awarding of soccer tournaments. Swiss officials have also announced a criminal investigation into how FIFA gave the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
