Manama, Bahrain - Fifa president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday that he was confident he would win his re-election bid against African soccer federation chief Issa Hayatou on the eve of the World Cup finals next month.
"I have been given a lot of support and I am very confident that I will be elected," Blatter told a news conference a day after winning a court injunction preventing an opponent from repeating accusations that he had offered bribes to obtain votes.
"It's like a football match. There is a favourite, and sometimes the runner-up or other competitors also have a chance," said Blatter, Fifa president since 1998.
Blatter said he hoped Fifa members would recognise his work for the organisation during the past 27 years.
On Monday, a court in Switzerland awarded an interim injunction against Farah Addo, president of the Somali Football Association.
Addo said in March he was offered money to support Blatter in the 1998 presidential campaign, when Blatter ran against European soccer chief Lennart Johansson.
Blatter said yesterday that a Swiss court in Zurich had already ruled on the accusations in 1998 and that bribery allegations were only meant to create problems within Fifa.
"You cannot accuse somebody twice," said Blatter, adding that Addo was under investigation by Fifa's disciplinary committee, which is due to meet on May 8-9 to deal with the issue.
Addo had said the bribe came from Qatari soccer official Mohammed Bin Hamman, a leading supporter of Blatter.
Bin Hamman, who was also present at yesterday's news conference, confirmed to The Associated Press that he was suing Addo in courts in Zurich and in Cairo, Egypt. - Sapa-AP