28th May 2015
You have to hand it to Sepp Blatter. After all that has taken place in Zurich over the past 48 hours – the arrest of seven Fifa officials, the involvement of the FBI, IRS and the Department of Justice, a separate investigation by Swiss authorities into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups – he arrived at the Fifa Congress, grinning and waving, before standing there, bold as brass and completely straight of face, telling us that the corruption at Fifa wasn’t his fault!
The chutzpah of the man is simply mind boggling and if his “leadership” wasn’t dragging the game so many of us love through the mud, you’d almost have to admire him for it.
At times like this I wonder if Blatter is a sociopath or that he genuinely believes that he is pure as the driven snow, while those under him have grown bloated and wealthy on the vast sums of money that Fifa generates?
If I was a betting man, I’d say it’s the latter.
What can’t be doubted is that it’d be great to live in Blatter’s world as everything must be sunshine and rainbows regardless of all the blows that come raining down on him: “Crisis? What is this crisis?”
Despite all this current scandal taking place on his watch, it is highly likely that the former president of the World Society of Friends of Suspenders will be re-elected by his acolytes for another term despite the growing umbrage at his reign coming louder than most from UEFA.
His long-term friend Michel Platini, the head of UEFA, twice asked Blatter to resign in the wake of the arrests only for the 79-year-old to refuse on both occasions.
Platini has made it clear that he and UEFA want Blatter gone and the majority are expected to vote for his challenger, Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan, with Spain and Russia reported to be notable exceptions.
That should get Prince Ali 45 of the 105 votes he needs to win – a sizable amount – but there’s a problem…
At his opening address at the Fifa congress Blatter appealed to those he knows has his back to ensure stays in power and that the status quo remains.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) are both expected to vote en bloc for the current incumbent.
This is seriously troubling for anyone hoping for much-needed change at Fifa as their complete backing means Blatter will receive 100 of the 105 votes he needs to win.
That the AFC won’t vote for one of their own in Prince Ali speaks volumes about the hold Blatter has on the national associations in developing countries.
In the wake of the accusations levelled in recent days at past and present members of Concacaf, the governing body controlling Central, North American and Caribbean football, and the sums involved, it’s hard to believe that individuals in CAF and the AFC haven’t reaped the benefits of Blatter’s reign.
For example, there’s one rumour that refuses to go away: that Thailand’s former Fifa Executive Committee (ExCo) member Worawi Makudi misused $860,000 (£535,000) of football development funding.
It is alleged that he used the money handed out by Fifa for football projects, namely the building of a new Football Authority of Thailand HQ, on land that he owned – handing money directly from Fifa to himself.
Given that is alleged that Mohamed Bin Hammam paid out millions of dollars in bribes ahead of the 2010 World Cup vote, Worawi’s suspected misdemeanours can surely only be the tip of the whole filthy iceberg.
Fifa now seems to be wrapped up in a culture where power, money and self-interest are the key players and seemingly the longer you’re involved, the harder it is to get out and the deeper immersed you get – I call it the “Fifa Syndrome”.
It’s not hard to see why people get drawn in. National association heads let alone ExCo members are feted like royalty when on Fifa business – see the luxurious Hotel Baur au Lac where the seven officials were arrested or the gold-plated iPads that delegates were given on a trip to the Mauritius as examples.
It is going to take someone of upstanding moral fortitude not to get sucked into that lifestyle where fine food, private jets, plush hotels, and expensive toys are the norm.
That doesn’t excuse them by any stretch of the imagination but it does bring us to understand why the AFC and CAF back good, old Sepp.
Blatter also ensures that the national associations of the smaller nations are given funding from Fifa’s £1 billion cash reserves to develop the game in their countries. Where some of this money goes we can only speculate but most could take an educated guess.
The ridiculous thing is that this funding would naturally continue under Prince Ali, the only difference is that they would be made accountable for any monies given – and there’s the kicker.
Real change won’t occur at Fifa until this is no longer the case and that isn’t likely while Teflon Sepp holds the reigns, and so we come back to where we came in.
Despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary, Prince Ali believes he can win today’s election and support for the 39-year-old has grown over the past 48 hours. Given the backing that Blatter has, however, a win for the Jordanian would be almost miraculous and a miracle’s just what Fifa needs to get back along the long road to respectability.