Sepp Blatter, chief gropenfuhrer of football association FIFA, faced an uphill struggle in the presidential election for the organisation.
With a huge field of candidates of just himself for the post, including current incumbent Said Bladder, and the elections using the recently rejected-by-the-UK AV (Alternative Vote) system, it looks to be a very tightly fought contest indeed.
The main candidate, Said Bladder, will be running against no one else, but at a press conference this morning, he said that he couldn't afford to be complacent, although with all the FIFA bungs and financial incentives of late, he said he could afford a new house, car and surround-sound home cinematic system, together with a 6-week holiday in a five-star hotel in Doha, a city, which he stresses, is only by sheer coincidence the capital of Quatar.
He went on to say that the immense field of no other candidates could pose a problem for him if there is tactical voting in the election. He said that under the AV system adopted by FIFA, he felt it might prove difficult to achieve 50% of the vote against all the no other candidates for the post.
Although he remained confident about being elected for yet another term, he said he expected a fraught wait during the count to see if he reached the magical 50%, and that he would "take it like a man" - especially if it was a reasonable six-figure back-hander - should no one else be elected against him in what he agreed would be a hard-fought election against no one else.
