61st FIFA Congress

The 61st FIFA Congress was held between 31 May and 1 June 2011 at the Hallenstadion in Zürich, Switzerland. FIFA is the governing body of world association football, and the congress is the annual meeting of FIFA's supreme legislative body. This is the eighth congress to be held in Zürich, and the first since 2007. After an opening ceremony and a reminder of FIFA events and activities in 2010, the second day witnessed decisions taken, and the unveiling of the 2010 financial results. The opening ceremony was presented by Melanie Winiger, and featured singer Grace Jones, hammered dulcimer player Nicolas Senn, and juggler Alan Šulc.

The congress agenda was released on 5 May.

Following the allegations of corruption Blatter announced changes to FIFA's internal processes. Future FIFA World Cups will be selected by the whole FIFA Congress rather than the FIFA Executive Committee, an internal committee will examine FIFA's corporate governance, and the FIFA Ethics Committee will be strengthened.

A motion bought by the United Arab Emirates Football Association to relax eligibility rules for foreign-born players was rejected by 153 to 42, with 11 abstentions. The motion argued that players 18 or older could switch countries after three years' residence instead of five. The president of the UAE football association Mohamed al-Rumaithi argued that the proposed change was good for countries trying to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. The motion was also supported by the UAE Football League and Srečko Katanec, the head coach of the United Arab Emirates national football team. The proposal was interpreted as a way for rich countries to attract foreign players with offers of citizenship.

The election for the presidency of FIFA was held on the second day of the congress. The incumbent, Sepp Blatter of Switzerland, was elected in 1998. Blatter won two previous presidential elections in 2002 and 2007. Blatter was the sole candidate for the presidency, after the only other candidate, Qatari Mohammed bin Hammam withdrew from the presidential race on 28 May.

The English Football Association (FA) vowed not to take part in the presidential vote citing a "well-reported range of issues...which made it difficult to support either candidate". On 31 May the FA and the Scottish Football Association called for the presidential election to be postponed. The FA also called for the appointment of an "independent external party to make recommendations regarding improved governance and compliance procedures and structures throughout the FIFA decision making processes for consideration by the full membership". The FA's stance was supported by the President of the FA, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The chairman of the FA, David Bernstein put a proposal to congress to delay the presidential vote, this was opposed by 172 of 206 voters. The FA's proposal was later criticized by members from the Congolese Association Football Federation, Benin Football Federation, Haitian Football Federation, Fiji Football Association and the Cyprus Football Association. The senior vice-president of FIFA and president of the Argentine Football Association, Julio Grondona, retorted "We always have attacks from England which are mostly lies with the support of journalism which is more busy lying than telling the truth...It looks like England is always complaining...I say will you leave the FIFA family alone, and when you speak, speak with truth."

The President of the Malian Football Federation, Hammadoun Kolado Cisse, announced his desire for FIFA's General Assembly rather than the FIFA Executive Committee to make the final decision on which countries host the World Cup. Cisse said that "If every country can vote on who hosts the event, that will cut down on corruption because you can't corrupt 203 federations."

On 1 June Blatter was re-elected president for a fourth term unopposed, with 186 of the 203 votes in his favour.