Soccer officials elected Sepp Blatter to a fifth term as FIFA president despite the corruption scandal that has engulfed the international sports organization, the Guardian reported.

The 79-year-old received support from 133 of the 209 voting members of the body; the majority of national federations from soccer strongholds Europe and South America, however, are believed to have backed Blatter's challenger, Ali Bin al-Hussein, in the secret vote.

Because of FIFA voting rules, the 39-year-old Jordanian prince could have insisted on a second round but ultimately decided to withdraw.

"For the next four years, I will be in command of this boat called FIFA," Blatter told representatives of the group's member associations. "And I will bring it back," the Swiss sports official promised, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The president of the association of European soccer federations, Michel Platini, had urged Blatter to resign after U.S. authorities initiated an investigation into an alleged web of bribery and corruption that led to the indictments of 14 and the arrests of seven soccer officials.

The UEFA leader went so far as to threaten a possible boycott of the FIFA-sanctioned World Cup, the most widely viewed and followed global sporting event.

"The events of this week are so traumatic for FIFA that I cannot see FIFA reforming itself under Blatter," Platini said. "He's had years to reform it, and he hasn't done it," he added.

U.S. Soccer, the United States' national federation, for its part, had announced its support for Ali ahead of the vote, the New York Post recalled.

"To us, this is a vote for good governance," its president, Sunil Gulati, had said in a teleconference from Switzerland. "We're going to be voting for (Ali on Friday)."

His federation was wants to ensure that FIFA and CONCACAF -- the North, Central American and Caribbean soccer association -- are being managed "with integrity," Gulati noted.

"[That is] far more important than hosting the World Cup or any other event," he insisted. "That's our focus."