Blatter says he will forgive but won’t forget UEFA rebellion
Re-elected FIFA president Sepp Blatter, right, is congratulated by FIFA vice president and UEFA president Michel Platini after his speech during the 65th FIFA Congress held at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 29, 2015. Blatter has been re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term, chosen to lead world soccer despite separate U.S. and Swiss criminal investigations into corruption. The 209 FIFA member federations gave the 79-year-old Blatter another four-year term on Friday after Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan conceded defeat after losing 133-73 in the first round. AP PHOTO
ZURICH— Sepp Blatter says he will not forget attempts by European football leaders to stop him being re-elected as Fifa president and warned that UEFA cannot live without football’s global governing body.
UEFA President Michel Platini, who helped Blatter gain the Fifa presidency in 1998, led opposition against his former ally.
Platini championed Prince Ali bin al-Hussein’s candidacy but the Jordanian was beaten by Blatter in Friday’s election.
READ: Blatter wins re-election despite FIFA corruption scandal
After gaining a fifth term as president, Blatter told Swiss channel RTS that there was “hatred not only from one person at UEFA but by the organization of UEFA that has not accepted that I have been president since 1998.”
Blatter added: “I forgive everyone but I don’t forget. We cannot live without UEFA and UEFA cannot live without us.”
