ZURICH — (CNN) Members of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, will vote Friday for their new president amid a corruption scandal that has rocked the organization and led for calls for the dismissal of Sepp Blatter, its longtime leader.
The vote comes as the FIFA World Congress meets in Zurich, Switzerland, in unprecedented disarray.
Swiss authorities are investigating the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, while a U.S. investigation has led to the arrest of some of FIFA’s leading officials on corruption charges.
Amid calls for his dismissal Thursday, Blatter blamed allegations of widespread corruption within soccer’s governing body on “a few” and called for those involved to be punished as FIFA works to rebuild its reputation.
His sole rival in the presidential contest is Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, the candidate put forward by England’s Football Association to challenge Blatter’s 17-year reign over world soccer. He’s the head of the Asian Football Conference and a vice president of FIFA.
Opening the 65th FIFA World Congress on Friday, Blatter — who’s running for a fifth term — called for the delegates gathered there to follow the same principles as on the soccer field, “discipline, respect and fair play.”
The delegates would have all day, rather than the 90 minutes players get, to do their work, he said, but working together they would achieve their aim.
There are 18 points on the agenda, with the last one the vote for presidency.
Blatter urged the delegates to show the world that they could run FIFA together. “I wish you good deliberations in the spirit of fair play and respect,” he concluded.
Each of FIFA’s 209 member associations has a vote in a secret ballot. A candidate needs two-thirds of the first ballot to be president if all members vote. Blatter secured his 2011 re-election with 186 votes in his favor, out of 203.
If there is no winner after the first vote, members cast ballots again, with only a majority of 105 needed to win.
Speaking on the eve of the vote, Blatter said the World Congress had an opportunity beginning Friday to start down “the long and difficult road to rebuilding trust.”
“Let this be a turning point,” Blatter said. “More needs to be done to make sure everyone in football acts responsibly and ethically.”
He vowed to cooperate with authorities to ensure those involved in wrongdoing are “discovered and punished.”
The 79-year-old’s call for reform comes as a chorus of pundits, world leaders and European soccer’s most important official have made clear what action they believe is necessary to clean up FIFA: Blatter must go.
But while European members and the United States have voiced their desire for Blatter to stand down, he maintains the support of many other member associations.
The Asian Football Confederation said Thursday that while it was disappointed by reports of corruption, it was ready to stand by Blatter and was against delaying the presidential elections. The Asian Football Confederation has 46 voting members.
The Confederation of African Football said the same in a statement Thursday. The CAF has 54 votes, and as recently as last month had promised to support Blatter unanimously.
The fact the ballot is secret may make the outcome of the vote more unpredictable.
But FIFA, an autonomous body, has survived numerous corruption scandals in the past and has defiantly stood firm in the face of widespread criticism of its decisions to hand Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The body announced Friday that it would not hold a press conference following the presidential vote, meaning the winner will not face the media until Saturday.
Michel Platini, president of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, met with other UEFA officials in Zurich on Thursday to decide how best to navigate the growing scandal.
Following that meeting, the former French national player told reporters that he had asked Blatter to leave, and Blatter was “very sensitive on that,” but told Platini it was “too late,” given that the vote was set for Friday.
If Blatter is re-elected, Platini said, European nations could take action of their own.
“Many people, they don’t want to stay with this FIFA, and if Sepp is still the president, UEFA has to take its responsibility,” he said.
Nine FIFA officials, as well as five sports media and marketing executives, were charged by U.S. prosecutors Wednesday over alleged kickbacks of more than $150 million dating back over 20 years.
As a result of the U.S. investigation, seven arrests were made in a dawn raid on the Zurich hotel where the officials had gathered for the annual congress.
Blatter has not been named as a suspect in either investigation, but doubts about his leadership of world soccer have been voiced, not least because key FIFA sponsors Visa and Coca-Cola have put out statements expressing their concerns about its handling of persistent allegations of corruption.
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