Sion may refer to:

A transliteration of Zion

In geography

Sion, Switzerland, the capital of the canton of Valais

Sion, Gers, a municipality in France

Sion, Mumbai, a suburb of Mumbai

Sion, Netherlands, part of Rijswijk in South Holland

Sion, Czech Republic, a castle in the Czech Republic, near Kutná Hora

Sion Mills, a village in Northern Ireland

Saxon-Sion, a municipality in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, France

In religion

Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion, a medieval monastic order founded by Godfrey de Bouillon in Jerusalem in 1090

Bishop of Sion, the head of the Diocese of Sion in Switzerland

Congregation of Notre-Dame de Sion, a Roman Catholic missionary organization created in 1843 to convert Jews and Muslims throughout Europe and Palestine

Priory of Sion, a French fraternal organization founded in 1956, and subsequent fictional organizations

Sion Abbey or Syon Abbey, a medieval monastery in Middlesex, England

Sion College, a body of Anglican priests in London, formerly containing a valuable library

Sion of Armenia, Catholicos of All Armenians (767-775)

In sport

FC Sion, a Swiss football team

Given names

Siôn, the Welsh form of John

Fictional characters

Sion Eltnam Atlasia, a character in the dōjin fighter series ''Melty Blood'' by Type-Moon and French-Bread.

Darth Sion, a character in the video game ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords''

Other

Sion Kölsch, a type of beer

Sion's minimax theorem, a mathematical result in game theory

See also

Scion (disambiguation)

Zion (disambiguation)

Sioni (disambiguation)

als:Sion (Begriffsklärung) bg:Сион (пояснение) ca:Sion cs:Sion cy:Sion de:Sion (Begriffsklärung) es:Sion (desambiguación) eu:Sion fr:Sion id:Sion it:Sion lt:Sionas ro:Sion (dezambiguizare) nl:Sion ja:シオン (曖昧さ回避) no:Sion (andre betydninger) sk:Sion fi:Sion (täsmennyssivu) sv:Sion (olika betydelser)

name	Sepp Blatter
order	8th
office	President of FIFA
term start	8 June 1998
predecessor	João Havelange
successor	Incumbent
birth date	March 10, 1936
birth place	Visp, Valais, Switzerland
birthname	Joseph S. Blatter
nationality	Swiss
spouse	Graziella Bianca(m. 2002–2004)
children	Corinne Blatter
alma mater	University of Lausanne
residence	Zurich, Switzerland }}

Joseph S. Blatter (born 10 March 1936), commonly known as Sepp ("Giuseppe") Blatter, is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007 and 2011.

Despite winning four terms as President, Blatter has often been dogged by controversy and allegations of corruption. In November 2011, he attracted criticism for stating that on-field racism could be satisfied by an end-of-match handshake, a claim for which he later offered a fulsome apology. Prior to his election as FIFA President, Blatter was a senior FIFA official for 23 years. In his earlier professional life, Blatter held a variety of senior management positions in several Swiss organizations.

Early life and career

Blatter was born in Visp, Canton Valais, Switzerland. He studied in Sion, Switzerland, before he received a degree in business and economics from the University of Lausanne in 1959.

Blatter has had a long and varied career, including posts such as Head of Public Relations of the Valaisan Tourist Board in his native Switzerland, as well as General Secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. He was Director of Sports Timing and Relations of Longines S.A., and was involved in the organization of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games.

FIFA

Since 1975, Blatter has been working at FIFA, first as Technical Director (1975–1981), then General Secretary (1981–1998), before his election as FIFA President in 1998. He was re-elected as head of FIFA in 2002, and was re-elected unopposed for another four years on 31 May 2007, even though only 66 of 207 FIFA members nominated him.

1998 election

Sepp Blatter's 1998 election to the presidency of FIFA over UEFA President Lennart Johansson occurred amidst much controversy. Blatter's 2002 candidacy has been marked with rumours of financial irregularities and backroom dealings, culminating with direct accusations of bribery, by a third party, made in the British press by Farra Ado, vice-president of the Confederation of African Football and president of the Somali Football Federation, who claimed to have been offered $100,000 to vote for Blatter in 1998.

Allegations of financial mismanagement

Amidst internal divisions, FIFA's secretary-general Blatter's deputy and former protégé Michel Zen-Ruffinen drew up a 30-page dossier outlining allegations of financial mismanagement within the organisation. The dossier alleged that the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL had led to losses of up to $100m under Blatter's management. The allegations were backed by Johansson, and the dossier was handed to the Swiss authorities, but they cleared Blatter of any wrong doing and FIFA had to pay all the costs. An internal investigation within FIFA was halted by Blatter because members of it broke confidentiality agreements. This questionable behaviour led him to remove Zen-Ruffinen from office immediately before the FIFA World Cup 2002.

Women's football

Blatter incurred criticism from female footballers in 2004 when he suggested that women should "wear tighter shorts and low cut shirts... to create a more female aesthetic" and attract more male fans, remarks that were ridiculed in the press.

Criticises referee, skips ceremony

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, after a controversial second-round match between Portugal and the Netherlands, which saw referee Valentin Ivanov issue a record 16 yellow cards and four red cards, Blatter was said to have lambasted the officiating referee, and said that Ivanov should have given himself a yellow card for his poor performance as a referee. However, he later regretted his words and promised to officially apologise to Ivanov. This apology was never given, and the referee was removed from further officiating. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup final in Germany, Blatter's absence during the prize-podium event was noted and criticized in international media. It was claimed that the reason Blatter did not attend was because he was upset that Italy won instead of France. Blatter later apologised and said the reason he had shunned the presentation ceremony was because he was afraid of being whistled.

Foreign 'over-representation' on club teams

Blatter appeared to incur much criticism during 2007 and 2008 for his apparent persistence in attempting to change European Union employment law regarding the number of foreign players football clubs can field at any one time. His plans are to set a restriction to five foreign players and having six players from the said team's own nationality. Blatter believes this would help the countries' national sides by having more national players playing in their leagues. Blatter has often referred to the English Premier League as one of the major problems in football and uses it as an example, due to the influence of foreign players, coaches and owners in the top teams.

Hand ball protest by Irish Association

In December 2009 Blatter rejected a request by the Football Association of Ireland that Ireland be the 33rd entrant of the 2010 FIFA World Cup following a controversial hand ball incident in their play-off qualification match. William Gallas scored after an assist from Thierry Henry, which was achieved via a hand ball near the Irish goal. The handball was not noticed by the referee and the late goal took France through to the finals at the expense of the Irish. Blatter conceded that the request was to be put before the FIFA Executive Committee.

Dismisses technological assistance

The criticism attracted by Blatter's refusal to allow goal-line technology or video replays intensified following the controversial Lampard disallowed goal in the match between England and Germany on 27 June 2010. Two days later, Blatter stated that he deplored the "evident referee mistakes" in the England v Germany and Mexico v Argentina matches, and apologised to the English Football Association and the Mexican Football Federation (the two organizations directly concerned by the referees' mistakes), acknowledging that Lampard had indeed scored against Germany and that Tévez's goal against Mexico had been scored from an offside position. He added: "It is obvious that after the experiences so far at this World Cup it would be a nonsense not to re-open the file on goal-line technology. [...] We will come out with a new model in November on how to improve high level referees. [...] I cannot disclose more of what we are doing but something has to be changed."

World Cup's chosen sites

It was reported that Blatter had "cut an unofficial deal with UEFA head Michel Platini" to ensure Europe would receive the 2018 World Cup, such that if the non-European bids did not withdraw from 2018 "they will find themselves frozen out and not given any backing by the FIFA High Command, damaging their chances of being serious contenders for the second tournament."

Eleven bids were submitted in March 2009 covering 13 nations. Mexico and Indonesia withdrew. Five of the remaining nine bids -- South Korea, Qatar, Japan, Australia and the United States -- were only for the 2022 World Cup, while all the others were bidding for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. However, since all of the bids for the 2018 World Cup were from European nations, and FIFA's rules dictate that countries belonging to confederations that hosted either of the two preceding tournaments are not eligible to host, the bids of England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium and Spain/Portugal were forced to be for 2018 only.

Controversy came in the British press when Russia was awarded the 2018 event, with England receiving just two of their 'promised' votes; this controversy was dismissed by Blatter as the English showing themselves to be "bad losers". The awarding of the 2022 games to Qatar was also controversial; the illegality of homosexuality in the nation caused Blatter to joke that "I would say they [gay fans] should refrain from any sexual activities", which brought condemnation from retired professional basketball player John Amaechi and gay rights groups.

2011 FIFA presidential election

In 2011, elections were scheduled for the FIFA presidency, in which Blatter was again the incumbent candidate, running for a fourth consecutive term. The ChangeFIFA organisation, on 29 March 2011, endorsed former Chilean defender and for 3 years running South American Footballer of the Year Elias Figueroa as candidate for the presidency, urging national federations to nominate him, but, subsequently, Figueroa decided not to accept the nomination, stating that "in such a short period of time" he could not develop a case "worthy of the magnitude and importance of such a distinguished job"

The vote took place at the 61st FIFA Congress in Zurich. The only other candidate, Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar, withdrew from the presidential race on the 28th May, just before the vote. Bin Hammam had supported Blatter's 1998 and 2002 presidential campaigns, but admitted that he had fallen out with Blatter over issues within the FIFA Executive Committee. The FIFA ethics committee that investigated bribery claims against Bin Hammam and CONCACAF head Jack Warner announced that Blatter will not face an investigation into claims that he knew of the bribery and did nothing about it, due to a lack of evidence.

Blatter criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stating FIFA manage their finances "like a housewife", after the IOC announced it would look into allegations of corruption against Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football.

There being no other nominations, Sepp Blatter ran unopposed in the 2011 FIFA elections.

On 1 June, Blatter was re-elected president for a fourth term, with 186 of the 203 votes in his favour. In his campaign, Blatter had stipulated that, if re-elected in 2011, he would not run again for president.

Changes to the game made under Blatter

The silver goal replaced the golden goal rule in extra time of play-off matches. Under the golden goal rule, the match ends immediately if one side scores in extra time. The silver goal rule states that the match will end at the half-time period in extra time if one team is leading – otherwise the match will continue until the end of the extra time period. Some fans believe that this rule change makes the game less exciting, while others felt that the game is more fair as a result. The new rule was first applied in the Euro 2004 competition, but it has since been discontinued along with golden goal. All competitions have now reverted to the traditional extra time rules, i.e. they must play the full amount of extra time, no matter what the score is.

Since the 2002 World Cup, the current World Cup champion no longer automatically qualifies for the next World Cup finals, as was the case for the champions of all 16 previous World Cups.

National associations must now enforce immediate suspensions of all players sent off during a game, even if television replays offer compelling evidence of a player's innocence. In particular, Blatter insists that a referee's judgement must be seen as final and that mistakes are part of the game. The FA, however, has refused to follow this directive, and allows appeals against straight red cards (though not those resulting from two yellows).

Under Blatter, starting in 2004, the game implemented the booking of players who remove their shirts after scoring a goal, as well as those who are guilty of 'over-zealous celebrations'. The rationale for this rule change is that football is a global sport, and thus the sensibilities of conservative nations and spectators must be respected.

In 2007, Blatter decided that no football matches will be played above 2500 metres (8200 ft) above sea level. This number was revised to 3000 metres (9840 feet) on 26 June 2007. The move had consequences for the Bolivia national football team, whose stadium (Estadio Hernando Siles) is located more than 3000 metres above sea level. The next day, FIFA also announced a special exemption for the Estadio Hernando Siles, allowing the stadium to continue holding World Cup qualifying matches.

Philosophy

Blatter has been involved in a wide range of humanitarian projects. Since his election as FIFA president in 1998, he has participated in several campaigns aiming to increase public awareness of children's rights and to bring football to less privileged regions of the world, ensuring its contribution to social advancement. Blatter considers football to provide a "basic education, character formation and fighting spirit, allied with respect and discipline", and which potentially allows better understanding among the peoples of the world. "Football for all, all for football" – is said to be his motto.

Honours

Sepp Blatter has received the following awards: Recipient of the 'Global Award for Peace' awarded by the International Amateur Athletic Association. Liberian Humane Order of African Redemption

Honorary title of 'Datuk Seri' from the Sultan of Pahang and former President of the Asian Football Confederation, Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.

References

External links

FIFA President's page on official website of FIFA

Excerpt from 'Foul' by Andrew Jennings

2002 Observer article outlining criticism of Blatter

TIME Europe article on Zen-Ruffinen's allegations

Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:People from Visp District Category:International Olympic Committee members Category:Presidents of FIFA Category:Swiss footballers Category:English Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Category:Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:University of Lausanne alumni Category:Recipients of the Olympic Order Category:FIFA officials

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name	Laurent Roussey
fullname	Laurent Roussey
height
birth date	December 27, 1961
birth place	Nîmes, France
position	Striker
youthyears1	?-1974
youthyears2	1974-1977
youthclubs1	AS Mazargues
youthclubs2	AS Saint-Étienne
years1	1977-1983
years2	1983-1985
years3	1985-1987
years4	1987-1988
years5	1988-1989
years6	1989-1991
clubs1	AS Saint-Étienne
clubs2	Toulouse FC
clubs3	SC Toulon
clubs4	Olympique Alès
clubs5	Lausanne Sports
clubs6	Red Star Saint-Ouen
nationalyears1	1982
nationalteam1	France
nationalcaps1	2
nationalgoals1	1
manageryears1	1995-2000
manageryears2	2000-2001
manageryears3	2001-2002
manageryears4	2002-2006
manageryears5	2006-2007
manageryears6	2007-2008
manageryears7	2011-
managerclubs1	FC Rouen
managerclubs2	US Créteil-Lusitanos
managerclubs3	FC Sion
managerclubs4	Lille OSC assistant coach
managerclubs5	AS Saint-Étienne assistant coach
managerclubs6	AS Saint-Étienne
managerclubs7	FC Sion }}

Laurent Roussey (born 27 December 1961) is a French former football striker and manager.

Titles

*As a player

French championship in 1981 with AS Saint-Étienne

References

External links

Profile

Career summary

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:French footballers Category:France international footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:AS Saint-Étienne players Category:Toulouse FC players Category:Sporting Toulon Var players Category:Olympique Alès players Category:Lausanne Sports players Category:Red Star Saint-Ouen players Category:Ligue 1 players Category:French football managers Category:FC Rouen managers Category:US Créteil-Lusitanos managers Category:FC Sion managers Category:AS Saint-Étienne managers Category:Ligue 1 managers

fr:Laurent Roussey it:Laurent Roussey ja:ローラン・ルセイ fi:Laurent Roussey