By Zach Bergson From Forbes

On May 29, FIFA’s 209 member nations will vote in an election to decide who will be the head of the most powerful sports organization in the world.

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, the incumbent president, is the favorite to lead FIFA for another four years, despite numerous accusations of corruption throughout his 17-year reign.

The FBI has been probing international soccer for corruption for more than three years, and intensified its investigation late last year when FIFA only released a diluted version of its own corruption report, and cleared Russia and Qatar to hold the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The specific wrongdoing that U.S. law enforcement is investigating is vote buying in the 2010 bidding process for Russia and Qatar.

According to ESPN’s E:60, Blatter recently decided “that it would be unwise to set foot on American soil,” due to the FBI’s probe.

FIFA’s president has also come under fire for migrant worker conditions in Qatar. A recent Guardian report found that one World Cup worker dies every two days in the Gulf state, but Blatter has doubled down on his promise to hold the tournament in Qatar.

If Blatter has presided over so much alleged corruption and negligence during is 17-year reign as FIFA president, why is he the frontrunner to get another four years in office?

Money and the way the organization elects its leader are the most plausible explanations.

Although Blatter’s tenure as FIFA president has been filled with controversy, he has also presided over unprecedented financial success.

Bloomberg wrote in a long profile of the 79-year-old that the organization — which is a nonprofit, by the way — grossed nearly $5.72 billion from broadcast rights and sponsorships at the end of the four-year cycle for the 2014 World Cup. As FIFA’s income has soared over the past decade, they’ve built up cash reserves of $1.52 billion, according to Bloomberg.

All of this money means there’s more bonuses for FIFA’s 209 member nations. The total prize money awarded to participating teams in the 2014 World Cup was $358 million, but that’s where the bonuses just begin.

FIFA has given $1.56 billion to its member nations over the past four years, according to Bloomberg, to build new fields and infrastructure. The delegates who will be voting in the May 29 election are also recipients of the organization’s money, as their soccer associations receive annual grants of $250,000.

FIFA’s 25 executive members, who are appointed from the organization’s six regional confederations, each get $300,000 a year.

Although Blatter’s three competitors — Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, Michael van Praag of the Netherlands and former soccer star Luis Figo — have also promised lavish handouts to member nations, a vote for the 79-year-old is probably viewed as a vote for status quo and more financial success by many delegates.

Another reason why Blatter seems poised for re-election is the undemocratic nature of the electoral process itself.

There are 209 delegates in the FIFA Congress. Each has one vote in the presidential election, regardless of their country’s size. That means the Cayman Islands (population: 58,435) has the same sway as Brazil (population: 200.4 million), arguably the world’s most soccer-crazed nation.

Small countries have also been given huge handouts under Blatter’s tenure.

For instance, FIFA has sent $2 million to the Cayman Islands over the past 13 years, according to Bloomberg. The small island nation has never participated in the World Cup.

Even if significant soccer countries like Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany and others banded against Blatter’s re-election, small countries in regions like the Caribbean and Oceania could theoretically outweigh their votes.

IMAGE: FIFA chief Sepp Blatter leaves at the end of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regional Congress on April 30, 2015. (MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH/AFP/Getty Images)

For more on this story go to: http://www.forbes.com/sites/zachbergson/2015/05/13/two-reasons-why-fifa-president-sepp-blatter-is-almost-guaranteed-re-election/