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By Bloomberg

The man who presides over international soccer, FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, finds himself running an organization buffeted by repeated allegations of corruption as he seeks re-election once again.

U.S. prosecutors Wednesday will charge at least 10 international soccer officials in an investigation of corruption, including vote rigging in the selection of host countries for World Cup tournaments, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Swiss police raided a swanky Zurich hotel after the U.S. Justice Department accused senior officials at FIFA, soccer’s ruling body, of racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and tax evasion, the person said. Blatter, 79, was not among those charged, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter.

The latest embarrassment for FIFA comes a year after release of a $27 million, FIFA-funded movie called “United Passions,” a flattering rendition of world soccer’s governing body under Blatter, who was portrayed by English actor Tim Roth.

In the movie, Blatter is portrayed a few months after first being elected president of FIFA in 1998, presiding over a tense meeting with top executives and warning he had had enough of the scandals that had marred the organization.

“From now on, we will be exemplary in all respects,” he says at the meeting, as portrayed in the film. “The slightest breach of ethics will be severely punished. I am warning you, all of you: We will play by my rules now.”

Cash-Stuffed Envelopes

In the 17 years since Blatter took power, however, FIFA has been buffeted by scandal after scandal, from allegations of cash-stuffed envelopes pushed under hotel doors on the eve of presidential elections to senior executives profiteering from black-market World Cup tickets and selling their votes to countries bidding to stage the event.

The Swiss police raid Wednesday morning in Zurich came two days before Blatter will go before FIFA members seeking election to a fifth term as president.

“The leadership that he established was such that it promoted self-aggrandizement, self-promotion and money grabbing of individuals within the executive committee of FIFA,” Michael Hershman, the co-founder of Transparency International, said earlier this year. FIFA enlisted Hershman to join a panel convened to give advice on reforms, then ignored most of its suggestions.

In December 2010, Qatar, a scorching-hot desert state with no soccer tradition, secured the rights to stage the 2022 World Cup. The $5 billion month-long jamboree holds the sporting world’s attention twice as long as the Olympics.

Fourth Term

A year after Qatar’s selection, Blatter secured his fourth term as president when his only challenger, a Qatari billionaire, was forced out of the race after being denounced for offering to bribe Caribbean voters. By then, even usually steadfast sponsors such as Coca-Cola Co. and Adidas AG -- companies that had enjoyed four decades of unbroken ties with FIFA -- spoke out. Blatter was bruised, though he refused to bow out.

“Crisis? What is a crisis?” a stern-faced Blatter said at a news conference where he clashed with reporters. “We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties, and these difficulties will be solved inside our family.”

The next day, to thunderous applause from the majority of the FIFA membership, Blatter told the world that he’d stay on for one more term, long enough to lead his organization into an era of transparent management.

‘Simply Scared’

Blatter’s opponents, including European soccer head Michel Platini, say the 79-year-old is unable to let go because FIFA -- an organization Blatter joined 40 years ago -- is his life.

“He is simply scared of the future because he has given his life to the institution to the point where he now identifies himself fully with FIFA,” Platini told French sports daily newspaper L’Equipe in a recent interview. “I understand the fear of that emptiness he must have -– it’s natural -– but if he really loves FIFA, he should have put its interests ahead of his own.”

Blatter has perfected the art of understanding his constituency. No matter what outsiders wanted, the only voices that counted were FIFA’s 209 nations and their votes; to ensure loyalty, he lavished attention and FIFA money on members from poor nations and tiny islands.

His power over the group showed in recent months, when his opponents were barred from addressing the membership of soccer’s regional groups in South America, Africa, Asia and Central and North America.

Premature Birth

The son of a chemical-plant worker, Blatter was born in Visp, a Swiss town of about 7,000 inhabitants in a valley below the Matterhorn. An ability to triumph over adversity is central to Blatter’s self-portrait; he frequently tells the story of his premature birth.

“My grandmother advised my mother to let me go,” he told a group of students at Oxford University. “But my grandmother was to underestimate my mother and me. I am a fighter and my mother was too. She did not give in. And I learned, like my mother, that you should never give up on what you believe in. I was given that chance at life. And I like to think I have grasped it with both hands.”