FIFA House of Corruption

Femi Fabunmi |

The organization saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the affairs of football globally has been ravaged with the disease known as corruption, a menace that has engulfed the football house for more than a decade now. But the recent unravelling, uncovering and unveiling of corrupt merchants in FIFA has really left many football lovers to be waxing lyrical and pouring out their anger. Three years ago, Nigeria’s Amos Adamu and Tamerri of Qatar were suspended for their involvement in trying to influence which country would get the hosting rights of 2018 world cup.

Amidst controversies, embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter was re-elected as leader of the governing body, after nine of the organisation’s officials were recently arrested on corruption charges.
Joseph Sepp Blatter has been the head of FIFA since 1998, when he succeeded Brazilian supremo Joao Havelange who was at the helm of affairs in the organization for 34 years (1954-1998)

There have been many controversies during his time at the top, but nothing as gigantic as the American indictment of nine football officials and five sports media and promotions executives for
corruption charges involving more than $US150 million ($193.47 million).

The arrests — on federal charges, which if proven could carry jail terms — have provoked calls for immediate action from FIFA, from Blatter’s resignation   and a re-run of the bid votes for the 2018 and 2022 world cups  to a shutting down of the whole organisation and reinventing the whole structure of global football management.

During the FIFA election that was held in Zurich on the 29th of May 2015    the 79-year-old Blatter secured 133 votes, falling short of 140 votes and the two-third majority required to get him re-elected and prompting a second round of voting.

However, his challenger Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, who won 73 votes in the first round, saw the hand writing clearly on the wall and decided to throw in the towel thereby conceding defeat. Meanwhile two other candidates, Michael van Praag of the Netherlands and former Portugal soccer legend Luis Figo, had earlier withdrawn their candidacies.

ABC commentator Francis Leach told ABC News Breakfast that FIFA’s future direction did not necessarily depend on the outcome of the vote. ’’But let us see where the investigation goes from here .his fate will be determined by what is uncovered going forward” “It’s fascinating to watch because the likes of Coca-Cola, Visa and FIFA’s other big corporate partners — who have been the beneficiaries of the FIFA World Cup and the power that it has to lift the profile of major corporations — haven’t spoken out about it as yet,” he said.

“We wait and see whether the campaign that’s been running for a while for … FIFA’s big corporations to disassociate themselves from FIFA, actually gains momentum.

Australian whistle-blower Bonita Mersiades, a former Football Federation Australia corporate affairs manager, told ABC’s Late line on Wednesday night the way ahead for world football required reform.

“I would hope that we could convince governments, sponsors — fans certainly want this — to look at having an independent FIFA reform commission,” she posited.

However, UEFA president Michelle Platini has been talking tough, his grouse has been that Qatar was not the favourite to have gotten the host rights of world cup 2022, he claims Money must have exchanged hands for the Oil rich nation to have bagged the hosting rights. Platini has threatened that UEFA will withdraw from all FIFA related activities should Sepp Blatter remain as FIFA president.

Report and findings have also shown that the hosting rights granted South Africa in 2010 might have been monetarily induced.

Another twist to this saga is the other side of the equation where  a Swiss criminal court has opened investigation into allegations of corruption in the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.

Swiss police arrested seven top football officials — who are among the 14 named in the US investigation.

Australia spent $46 million on its bid for the 2022 Cup, but received just one vote and was eliminated after the first round of voting. A FIFA spokesman has already confirmed the organisation’s intent that both tournaments will proceed with their current hosts, despite the Swiss investigation. “I can’t see 2018 in Russia changing however it’s just too late in the process,” he said.

“It is World Cup bidding at the heart of this, the   ability to hold onto the bidding rights for such an event and exploit it for personal gain.”

Leach said the bidding process for 2018 and 2022 was disastrous, largely because — in an unusual move — the two Cups were decided concurrently “They was horse-trading between the 2018 and 2022 bids and it provided huge leverage to those who would exploit the situation to absolutely do so,” he said.

Sepp Blatter has no doubt exonerated  himself of any involvement in all of this, and so far no traces has been linked to him, but the question arises how come serious exchange of monies by powers that be has been going on in that organization for many years unchecked  and he claims not to be  in the know, now that  the pressure has gotten to him  and he has been forced to step down, methinks , this is the price he’s got to pay for not carrying out the ‘’power to check’’ bestowed on him by the constitutions of FIFA when he swore to the oath of office.