Australia's move against Sepp Blatter in Fifa vote is honourable – but risky
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Version 0 of 1. As is often the case in football politics, the murkier the dealings are, the higher class of hotel they’re being done in. That the events at the Baur au Lac in Zurich over the past 48 hours have played out at a venue that sits next door to a beauty salon named Vanity only adds another layer of irony to an international scandal enveloping Fifa, with more than a little local and regional intrigue. While the twin US and Swiss-led investigations, on the surface at least, don’t directly impact on Australia, the cascading fallout with sponsors firing off strongly-worded missives, editorials worldwide calling for change and everyone from Rod Stewart to John Cleese having their say means this could finally be the tipping point for the world game’s governing body. The manifestation of that desire for change will come on Friday when Fifa’s 209 member associations cast their vote in the presidential election which will determine whether Sepp Blatter is returned for a fifth term or whether the reform-minded Jordanian, Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, is elected instead. Australia, somewhat unexpectedly, and certainly not without risk in the opaque light that football politics occupies, should be commended for being one of the few associations worldwide to publicly come out and oppose Blatter’s re-election. That Football Federation Australia (FFA) could have made similar proclamations several years ago has not been lost on many. Neither has the fact that before standing as a beacon of righteousness the governing body here might want to make sure all is in order in their own house before upcoming elections in November. In a statement released late last night, FFA chairman Frank Lowy said: “FFA believes that profound change within Fifa is needed as soon as possible to address issues of governance and transparency. “This belief will be reflected when Australia casts its vote … the board of FFA has reviewed the manifesto for change proposed by Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein and believes it provides the basis for a fresh start for Fifa.” As someone who has known and seen first hand the work that Prince Ali is doing across the world to promote the interests of grassroots football – from programs in Cambodia to help girls at risk of being sexually trafficked to health awareness initiatives in India and education models for Syrian refugees in his native Jordan – I can say that Lowy’s backing is a logical step. The risk in such a public move by FFA is that it will alienate the powerbrokers in our own region at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) who have repeatedly – until as late as Thursday – backed the re-election of the 79-year-old Swiss. Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah is a member of the Kuwaiti political elite of whom few in Australia would have heard. But Lowy and the FFA know full well the power of a man who is regarded as the kingmaker of not just Asian football, but also the broader sporting panorama in the region. As head of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Sheikh Ahmad controls the votes of a huge bloc of Asian football associations many of whom, particularly in the West, are organisations that exist under a broader national Olympic umbrella. It was the support of Sheikh Ahmad that delivered his close confidante, the Bahraini Sheikh Salman, the AFC presidency. But in recent times the Kuwaiti himself has been making a series of moves that seem to have a familiar endgame in sight. Earlier this month he was elected as one of Asia’s four members on the Fifa executive committee, in a move widely seen as being the launching pad to a presidential challenge in 2019. Whether that would come with the backing of Blatter or not is open for interpretation but such a public show of support for the Fifa president won’t harm his chances, particularly as he is attempting to blindside an Asian challenger in the process. Lowy himself, many would argue, is adroit at sniffing the veering political wind but the main prize he so desperately seeks, a re-run of the vote for the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, is almost certain to remain out of reach. The Australia Federal Police commissioner, Andrew Colvin, has said that his body may look into allegations of a “missing” $500,000 payment made by the FFA for the development of a stadium in Trinidad and Tobago but was allegedly appropriated by one of the men at the centre of the current US investigation, Jack Warner from Trinidad. But the last thing Lowy needs is an AFP enquiry into some of the claims around Australia’s bidding practices for the 2022 World Cup – much of which, “development grants” and pearl necklaces included, looks like it came from a book entitled Bidding 101. The other pertinent issue for Lowy, in particular, is that if you hold yourself up as a champion of good governance and transparency internationally you must ensure those same standards apply at home. With an FFA election looming in November, Lowy’s son Stephen is running for the executive. Meanwhile Andy Cornish could stand. Cornish is an executive at IAG, a company where Brian Schwartz, whose term on the FFA is coming to an end, is on the board. But change starts at the very top and that’s why the public backing of Prince Ali is such a key step. Many expect Blatter to still have the numbers but I think it will be a very tight contest. With the influential American federation boss, Sunil Gulati, as a key backer it’s believed Prince Ali has a sizeable number of votes coming his way from the 41 available in the North and Central American region, while the majority of Europe’s 54 votes are also likely to fall in his favour. The bulk of Africa’s 56 and Asia’s 47 votes though are likely to head in Blatter’s direction, and he also has strong support from Oceania’s 14’s associations. One thing feels certain though – and you wouldn’t have said it with any confidence even two or three months ago – and that is that the vote will go to a second round. That’s probably a more transparent vote than FFA will muster in November as the search for global football reform continues apace. |