Just four days after being controversially elected to a new four year term as the head of FIFA, Seth Blatter threw in the towel - and resigned. FIFA is the world body that controls soccer and consists of representatives from each country that plays that game. It has long been known for it's incestuous dipping into the funds pool and indecision when it comes to implementing technology to ensure fair goal decisions. All this came to a head when the decision to choose two coming world cup venues was mired in controversy - about back scratching and vote buying.
Rumour and innuendo came under the legal spotlight when seven of the FIFA body were arrested on charges of criminal conduct and this was just before Seth Blatter stood for election for what would be a fifth term. No charges against him were immediately pending, but the fact that he has been in charge of FIFA for the past sixteen years while this imbroglio festers can not be a claim of competence.
The charges laid against that FIFA seven will be heard in the American justice system and it is usual there to offer a reduced sentence for the first to come clean and provide evidence that incriminates other offenders. No doubt the entire FIFA representation will be having sleepless nights wondering what may emerge to further blacken the reputation of this sporting organization.
The fact that Blatter emerged victorious from this past election revealed a split in the world body. It seems that Africa, Asia and South America are opting for no change and retaining the status quo, while Europe, America and Australia are demanding that FIFA be reconstituted with a fresh image and rule clarity to cleanup the game. Had Blatter remained defiant and retained his position is is likely that a FIFA split could have produced competing world competitions and organizational chaos.
Blatter will hold his position until next year while FIFA internally decides how it will reform itself, and that will bring forth some interesting pressures. Soccer originated in England and spread across Europe before the expansion of the British empire saw it take hold in South America. It was a minor sport in both America and Australia until the latter part of the twentieth century and now it is a world game that many would consider has the biggest sporting coverage on this planet.
It seems evident that the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 world games to Russia and Qatar had elements of bribery and corruption. Billions have been spent on building the stadiums and there are calls for these venues to be cancelled and reallocated. That brings world politics into the equation. Old east/west rivalries and point scoring will compete with the actions necessary to reform the world body - and muddy the waters !
There are calls for an entirely new approach to the FIFA management structure and that command pass to a person with impeccable credentials. Prince Ali ben al Hussein of Jordan stood against Blatter and forced a second runoff vote, but there have also been calls for the new FIFA head to be free of any past association with the sport - and several world figures have been mentioned, including fomer New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.
The soccer world will be holding it's breath as the months pass and the wheeling and dealing between soccer playing countries forms groups and alliances to decide the outcome. Unfortunately the people who head the game in individual countries are unlikely to change and for some of them the past - with it's inscrutable protocols and rich rewards for membership and control - was a very comfortable arrangement - which they wish to continue.
About the only certainty is that if soccer fails to improve it's governing body part of the present membership will walk away - and form a new code. It would be in the best interests of the world game to consign the old arrangements to past history !
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