Mr. Ginola’s campaign was largely a sham — it was backed by an online sports-betting company seeking publicity — and he withdrew early, but it was only last week that Mr. van Praag and Mr. Figo stepped out and put their support behind Prince Ali, who campaigned on a platform that emphasized changing what he called a broken culture in FIFA.

“We have heard, in recent days, voices which described our FIFA as an avaricious body which feeds off the game it loves,” Prince Ali said in his speech to the delegates before the election. “We have heard questions about whether our family is morally bankrupt.”

Speaking in a measured tone, Prince Ali continued: “Friends and colleagues: If you give me your backing, we can win the right to a new beginning.”

Image On the first ballot of FIFA’s member federations in Zurich, Mr. Blatter got 133 votes, just short of the two-thirds majority required. Credit... Walter Bieri/European Pressphoto Agency

It was a powerful speech from Prince Ali, but it did not sway enough of the delegates to dethrone Mr. Blatter, who in his own remarks joked, “I don’t need to introduce myself to you.” Mr. Blatter also repeatedly highlighted his long record with FIFA and announced that he planned to create a new department within FIFA dedicated to serving the needs of professional players and clubs.

For the first time since the arrests of several of his colleagues, Mr. Blatter took some measure of responsibility for the problems that have plagued FIFA during his reign, saying in his speech, “I will shoulder it.” He added, “I just want to fix FIFA together with you.” That language from Mr. Blatter, however, was different from his comments earlier in the day, when he largely deflected the notion that he could monitor the behavior of his colleagues around the world. He told the Congress, “You can’t just ask people to behave ethically just like that.”

Mr. Blatter’s new term — he has said, as he did after his last victory, that this will be a final mandate — begins beneath a substantial cloud. The two investigations, one by the United States Department of Justice and one by the Swiss authorities, figure to provide even more “bad news,” as Mr. Blatter described it, in the coming weeks and months. There are likely to be further arrests, depositions, extraditions and, perhaps, trials — all of which will extend the “current storm,” as Mr. Blatter said.