Fifa’s so corrupt only governments can clean it out
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Version 0 of 1. Crisis, what crisis, says old Sepptic to a world full of sceptics. But the real question here isn’t the future of Sepp Blatter, but the future of Fifa itself. Blatter will go; if not today, soon. It’s a sign of his moral bankruptcy that he can argue with a straight face that he is the man to clean up the organisation – it’s the way he tells them. And it’s an even surer sign of the moral bankruptcy of the entire organisation that he will probably muster a majority to back him. No doubt many of those delegates from Africa and other parts of the developing world will stick to him, and to Fifa’s money, like leeches, motivated by the old adage: if we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately. But in football there are ways of getting him out, and quickly. Europe’s governing body, Uefa, could boycott all Fifa competitions, including the 2018 World Cup. The world’s pre-eminent league, the Premier League, could refuse to release players for Fifa games until he goes. Fifa’s long-suffering sponsors could pull out. But more than that, I believe this is important enough for government to get involved. If most of the G20 governments signed up to a demand for Blatter to go, and for Fifa to accept fundamental reforms, could he, or they, really resist? Platini is up to his neck in Fifa’s miscalculations Why should governments get involved, I hear you ask, this is only sport? Well, it is the most popular sport on the planet, and more significant to many people worldwide than almost anything their government does except war and peace. And what’s the point of having sports ministers, if they don’t tackle the most important issue in the world’s biggest sport? After all, Blatter’s malign influence impacts on every fan. As I sit in my seat at Chelsea, week in week out, and see valid goals disallowed for offside when they are not, fake penalties awarded to divers, real penalties not given, and offside goals allowed, I know the fault lies not with the officials, but with Blatter. It’s Blatter who has single-handedly been able to block the technology that would prevent such errors and abuses, and which has been adopted even by conservative sports like cricket. Blatter has said the best way to make women’s football more attractive is for the players to wear tighter shorts. Yes, really. He rules his empire as capriciously as Nero. Events of this week will surely prove that Fifa itself is fundamentally unfit for purpose, and that the rich seam of corruption already revealed by American prosecutors is merely the start of a much bigger scandal. And the real point is that when Blatter goes, the organisation cannot be left to reform itself. Some will say there is a white knight in the form of Uefa’s Michel Platini. But how “white” is he? Before it became expedient for him to attack Blatter, Platini was proud to bask in the glory of being Blatter’s protégé. “My godfather”, Platini once proudly called him. Platini is up to his neck in Fifa’s miscalculations. He voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, denying it was at the behest of then President Nicolas Sarkozy, who smelt some big contracts. He says he wanted a winter World Cup, but this former professional footballer has therefore inflicted on fellow pros the joy of playing in more than 100 degrees of heat. Related: Get rid of Blatter – but not Fifa | David Goldblatt His financial fair play rules are now seen as a way of shoring up the power of the big clubs in Europe, especially in Italy, where he used to play. But now that Milan and Inter want the rules dropped, Platini is rushing to oblige. He’s that kind of guy – on the side of the big battalions. Like Blatter he has built up his power base from the small countries, which is why he’s about to ruin world footballs finest tournament, the European Championships, by increasing participation in the finals from 16 to 24. Platini is indeed Blatter’s godson. He has learnt all the tricks at his godfather’s knee, and world football is too important to be left to him. Only root-and-branch reform of Fifa, driven by major governments, will make the necessary difference. The International Olympic Committee managed to reform itself, and is now pretty much corruption-proof. But Fifa lacks the will, or the leadership to do the same. If influential governments stand back, the inevitable demise of Blatter will not be the end, or even the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning of world football’s ongoing travails. |