t was at the first meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee under his chairmanship that the new President outlined the eleven main priorities of his programme at the helm of the world body, an organisation he had joined under João Havelange’s captaincy in 1975 :

• the 2002 FIFA World Cup
• football and health and the F-MARC project
• the CIES project at Neuchâtel University
• FIFA for SOS Children’s Villages
• a better dialogue with governmental authorities
• relations with the IOC and other sports bodies
• TV distribution policy for the World Cup
• the use of revenues from TV and marketing contracts
• resisting the trend towards independent leagues
• improving refereeing standards
• enhancing the role of the confederations

In pursuing these goals, Joseph S. Blatter spoke frequently of the need to stimulate a renewed sense of solidarity throughout the world of football, and created his so-called House of FIFA which he presented to the 1999 Extraordinary Congress in Los Angeles.

The virtual house is constructed of those values which are central to the future strength of FIFA as a global institution : a solid foundation of trust generated by the closely-knit FIFA family and efficient organisation; the principles of democracy, solidarity and quality to support and protect the game; and a roof of universality, binding everything together. Contained within the house is the FIFA logo and permanent slogan that is the guiding motif for all FIFA’s activities : For the Good of the Game.