Sepp Blatter Wins FIFA Election: Twitter Reacts to Presidential Vote

Sepp Blatter will stand as FIFA president for a fifth term after beating Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein in Friday’s election.

The Swiss was always the favourite to emerge victorious despite the corruption allegations recently levied at world football’s governing body.

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Blatter’s votes outweighed that of the Jordanian 133-73 after the first round of voting. That wasn’t enough for the current president to secure a two-thirds majority, but ahead of a potential second round of balloting, Ali withdrew his candidacy.

Official confirmation was provided by Rob Harris of the Associated Press:

The announcement was met with resignation from plenty within the football firmament on Twitter. Though Blatter hasn’t been charged in the ongoing investigations from the FBI and the Swiss police, plenty have been critical of his tutelage in the wake of the scandal.

Upon withdrawing, Ali thanked all of those who were “brave enough” to vote for him, per BBC Sport:

As noted by Harris, Blatter was complimentary of his nearest rival for the presidency:

He spoke flamboyantly after his re-election, per Squawka Football:

During his speech, the FIFA president spoke of getting more women involved in football, beach soccer and even chanted “Mexico! Mexico!,” which will be the venue for the next FIFA Congress meeting.

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ESPN.com’s Max Bretos was unimpressed:

Former Real Madrid and Barcelona midfielder Luis Figo was set to run for the presidency, but he withdrew late in the race. The Portuguese icon was critical of the governing body and the voters in the aftermath of the result, as we can see here, courtesy of CNN's James Masters:

Although on the face of things this victory was conclusive for the Swiss, the result was truly a lot closer than many anticipated at the start of the week.

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However, former England international Gary Lineker was unhappy with the outcome and had strong words for all of those who voted Blatter in for a fifth term:

The consequences of this poll look likely to have a major effect. Britain’s FIFA vice president, David Gill, was adamant he’d resign from his post should Blatter be re-elected, per Mike Collett of Reuters (h/t Yahoo Sports), while FA chairman Greg Dyke has lent his support to a potential boycott of the 2018 World Cup from UEFA nations, per Owen Gibson and Damien Gayle of the Guardian.

With that in mind, Jonny Singer of the MailOnline said this result could be a blessing in disguise:

It's a move Bleacher Report’s Stan Collymore revealed he would back up emphatically:

As football journalist Richard Buxton noted in the aftermath, given the developments of the previous week, it's going to be intriguing to see what role Blatter will have to play in the ongoing investigations from various authorities:

Sports Illustrated's Michael McCann said this result could help expedite the United States' investigative progress:

BBC Sport's Andrew Cotter is expecting some imminent reaction from the organisation's sponsors:

There's an unshakable sense that this has been a cornerstone week in the football world, especially for Blatter and FIFA. 

This election result represents an inevitable but crushing disappointment to plenty who have the best interests of the game at heart. But with investigations into corruption set to blemish Blatter's next four years in the FIFA hot seat, it'd be no surprise if the face of the organisation was changed by the time the next elections are held in 2019.