Key dates in career of FIFA President Sepp Blatter
A look at some of the key dates in the career of FIFA President Sepp Blatter:
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March 10, 1936 - Born in Visp, Switzerland.
1948-1971 - Player in Swiss amateur league.
1956 - Becomes member of Swiss Association of Sportswriters.
1959-1964 - Public relations official for tourism in the canton of Valais.
1964-1966 - Secretary general, Swiss Ice Hockey Federation.
1968-1975 - Director at watch company Longines S.A.
1975-1981 - FIFA technical director.
1981-1998 - FIFA general secretary.
1998 - Elected FIFA president.
2002 - Blatter accused of financial mismanagement by FIFA executive committee members. Criminal complaint filed against Blatter with Swiss prosecutors comes to nothing after Blatter is re-elected by beating Issa Hayatou of Cameroon in a vote.
2007 - Re-elected unopposed.
2011 - Re-elected unopposed after challenger Mohamed bin Hammam, a former ally, withdrew before being suspended by FIFA over bribery allegations.
May 29, 2015 - Reneging on pledge not to stand again, re-elected for fifth term by beating Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.
June 2 - Announces resignation plans as pressure mounts over escalating criminal investigations.
July 20 - Exit date set for Feb. 26, when the presidential election is due to be held.
Sept. 24 - Uses in-house FIFA magazine to say the governing body will support U.S. and Swiss investigations "no matter how close to home those investigations get."
Sept. 25 - Interrogated by Swiss federal police over alleged criminal use of FIFA money as office is searched and data is seized.
Oct. 8 - Suspended for 90 days by the FIFA ethics committee.