‘Father of football’ Sepp Blatter compared to Jesus and Nelson Mandela by Fifa voters
Central America and Caribbean associations hail Fifa president as messiah to the bewilderment of election rivals
Hailed as "the father of football" and compared to Jesus Christ and Nelson Mandela, Fifa chief Sepp Blatter got backing from across Caribbean and Central American countries at the Concacaf congress on Thursday.
Blatter received pledges of support from 10 federations as the congress quickly turned from a business meeting into a rally to support the incumbent president of soccer’s world governing body.
The Trinidad and Tobago FA chief Raymond Tim Kee praised Blatter as the "father of football" while the president of the Dominican Republic federation Osiris Guzman compared the 79-year-old Swiss to Moses, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr as well as Jesus and Mandela.
Guzman was suspended by Fifa in 2011 for 30 days and fined following an Ethics Committee investigation into the allegations surrounding the cash for votes scandal at the last Fifa presidential election.
There were no speeches in favour of any of the opposing candidates – former Portugal international Luis Figo, Dutch FA chief Michael van Praag and Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein all of whom were present as observers.
"I think Concacaf membership is sending a clear message that we continue to support president Blatter," said Concacaf president Jeffrey Webb, who was later re-elected, unopposed, as head of his body.