Sepp Blatter has been re-elected as president of Fifa.

Blatter won yesterday’s election in Zurich after Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, his main challenger, withdrew before a second round of voting.

The first round saw Blatter fall just short of the 140 votes he needed to win outright, getting 133, with Prince Ali receiving 73 votes, while three ballots of the 209 cast were spoiled.

“I thank you for accepting me for the next four years,” Blatter said in his victory speech.

“I will be in command of this boat called Fifa and we will bring it back to shore.

“We have some organisational problems. We need women in this committee, we have to do more. I will not touch the World Cup, it is too important.

“I take responsibility to bring back Fifa, with you we will do it, I am convinced.

“I am a faithful man, now God, Allah or whoever we believe in, they will help us to bring back Fifa. I promise you at the end of my term I will give Fifa to my successor in a very strong position.”

The Bermuda Football Association will still not say who they voted for, despite repeated requests for them to do so.

However, Bermuda have always backed Blatter in the past as part of the Concacaf block vote, a region, which more than any other, has been caught up in the massive fraud scandal that has rocked the game this week.

Concacaf have attempted to distance themselves from the actions of Jeffrey Webb, the Concacaf president, and Eduardo Li, the Costa Rican football federation president, by provisionally banning the pair, both of whom were arrested this week.

Blatter’s re-election has not gone down well in the United States, with Sunil Gulati, the US soccer president, saying he was “disappointed” with the result.

“While we are disappointed in the result of the election, we will continue to push for meaningful change within Fifa,” Gulati said. “Our goal is for governance of Fifa that is responsible, accountable, transparent and focused solely on the best interests of the game.”

The number of votes that Prince Ali received suggest that a sizable contingent of member nations feel the same way, and Uefa demanded Blatter’s resignation on Thursday with Michel Platini, the Uefa president saying “enough is enough.”

The Fifa president faces a turbulent start to his fifth term in office, but the 79-year-old was as defiant as ever yesterday and said he had some surprises in store as he attempts to rebuild his, and Fifa’s, shattered reputation.

“This gives me now the time because I was said to be responsible with what’s happened. I take the responsibility and we have to build up now a better image of Fifa and I know how to do it,” said Blatter, who will hold the first executive committee meeting of his new term today.

“I cannot disclose it now but we will do it as from tomorrow [Saturday] morning. We have a meeting of the executive committee and they will listen to me, they will receive some information or some messages, some of them will be surprised.”