Erstellt am: 26. 2. 2016 - 16:15 Uhr

A New Dawn For FIFA?

Football's governing body chooses the man to replace pantomine villain Sepp Blatter - but will this vote bring real change?

Could we be about to see a new dawn for football's governing body FIFA?

The massively powerful custodian of the world’s most popular game is in dire need of reform. Controversies over corruption dogged the last days of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who was recently suspended from his post in relation to allegedly irregular payments made to UEFA president Michel Platini.

AFP/Desk

Blatter’s personal downfall was just the latest in a string of scandals that are being investigated in Switzerland and the USA – including money laundering and bribery over sponsorship and TV deals. There is even an investigation that the bidding process for the upcoming World Cups in Russia and Qatar was rigged.

I think the lawyers will allow me to say this: FIFA is in a big mess.

Now there’s an election in Zurich by the organisation to choose a new leader. FIFA delegates from the football associations of 207 countries around the world will choose the man (and yes, the candidates are all men) that will drag FIFA out of the mire. Surprisingly, perhaps, these delegates retain a great amount of sympathy for the suspended Blatter, explains Dan Hough, the Director of the Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption :

"Blatter was very good at talking to the national football associations and getting them what they wanted, so they supported him and, frankly, most still do. So don’t expect any candidate to win this election by campaigning against Sepp Blatter. That’s not going to happen."

"Different Names, Same Problems"

Given this institutional loyalty to the values of Blatter, there is scepticism about the possibility of real change. "The names have changed but the game remains the same" writes Owen Gibson of the Guardian newspaper. "Despite the arrests, the indictments, the $200m in kickbacks and bribes, the suspensions and the bans, this FIFA election is still being played by the old rules."

But let’s have a look at those names. The frontrunner is a man called Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa from Bahrain. He’ll probably win, explains John Nauright , professor of Sport at the University of Brighton because "he has the backing of the Asian and African confederations and they are such large players in terms of numbers of votes."

AFP/Karim Jaafar

It is not like the European Union where a country’s voting power is linked to the size of its population; at FIFA each national federation has one vote, whether as large as China or as small as Trinidad & Tobago. The backing of the Asian confederation led by Prince Ali bin al-Hussein is seen as a vital advantage over the European candidate Gianni Infantino.

So the favourite is Sheikh, related to Bahrain’s ruling royal family, who is backed by another Prince, but we shouldn’t let titles influence our perceptions, either positively or negatively. It is character and integrity that count. And this is where Sheikh Salman has been dogged by accusations of being involved in human rights abuses by identifying footballers and other athletes involved in Bahrain’s 2011 uprising.

Mud Sticks

Denying the very definition of denial, Sheik Salman has rejected these claims in BBC interview this week, memorably remarking that "I cannot deny what I didn’t do." But John Nauright says he should properly address the controversy:

"The problem is that he has been very reluctant to hit the issue head on. He has deflected the issue along the way and contradicted himself. It doesn’t help his cause to say he is completely innocent when you have people speaking out who were victims of torture: athletes, footballers and members of the Bahrain national team saying that this was done to them and he had a position of responsibility."

Let's have a closer look at the European candidate, Gianni Infantino, the new secretary-general of UEFA. You might know him as the mostly silent but dapper figure who presided over the ball-juggling Champion’s League draws in recent years. He is trying to present himself as a the candidate for "new FIFA" but his close relations with his now suspended former boss Michel Platini have cast a shadow over this claim.

AFP/Olivier Morin

"He does promise a bit of a fresh face," says John Nauright. "He has a legal background and when I think of all the candidates running he is probably the least tainted." He also is known for a somewhat brash attitude that Nauright feels might come in handy in cleaning up FIFA.

Reforms

A set of reforms were passed today that could signal a brighter future, says Dan Hough. He highlights the creation of a new secretariat that will be headed by a CEO rather than the FIFA president. Blatter was accused by critics of acting like a monarch. This will no longer be possible.

"This could be very significant," says Hough, "because it could mean that the president becomes, if not quite a figurehead, much less powerful that Blatter was." Hough says there are moves to greater transparency; including a term limit and an obligation for FIFA officials to declare their salaries.

But none of this goes far enough for Declan Hill, the author of two books on football corruption: The Fix and The Insider's Guide to Match Fixing. Hill, who is camped out in Zurich during these elections, suggests none of the candidates are suitable and that a new tough outsider, unconnected with the current FIFA set up, should be brought in.

"Turkeys don't vote for Christmas"

He suggests thick-skinned, tough talking anti-doping crusader Dick Pound. But would the voting delegates at FIFA ever agree to that?

"No," says Hill. "Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas." And that is why it is time for the sponsors to act, says the anti-corruption expert. Sponsors are the powers that have put money into FIFA. "They should have the cojones to point out that over the years they have put hundreds of millions of dollars into the organisation and they should insist on it being a clean organisation."

Put Pressure On The Sponsors

If sponsors don’t use that power, says Declan Hill, we should write to them and demand action. If sponsors keep supporting an unreformed FIFA, he argues, football fans should threaten to stop consuming their products.

And to be honest, if these products are burgers, sugary soft drinks or beer, your political act might even help your performance on the football pitch.