Comment: Sepp Blatter is an embarrassment
Fifa's 'internal ethics committee' has neither the independence nor the legitimacy to enforce its flimsy code of ethics.
By James Wharton MP
We love to think of football as the beautiful game, yet the way that it has been run for the past few years, at an international level at least, is anything but beautiful. There is no doubt that football is the best example of sport as an international language: it transcends so many political, religious and social boundaries across the globe, and has an unparalleled ability to draw people together. Yet the recent scandals engulfing Fifa have drawn attention to the appalling lack of transparency and accountability within football’s governing body, and have revealed divisions which threaten to tear the sport apart.
Sadly most observers now look upon Fifa with incredulity and see it as unfit to govern the world’s biggest sport. It is an organisation which has recently conducted a shambolic election with only one candidate and has seen nine of its twenty-six strong executive committee – which has just decided the destination of one of the world’s biggest sporting events – implicated in serious misconduct within the last six months.
The secrecy of the World Cup bidding process was farcical and whilst the recent reforms announced by Sepp Blatter are welcome, they do not go nearly far enough. If Fifa wanted the World Cup to go to developing nations, this should have been made clear at the start not the end of the proceedings; it is little wonder that the Australian FA now want their money back.
Fifa politics are murky to say the least. The lack of transparency has allowed and encouraged representatives to take decisions in their own national, and sometimes personal self-interest. The revelations of internal divisions and allegations of corruption have come as little surprise to informed observers. The ‘internal ethics committee’ which is currently presiding over the cases of Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam has neither the independence nor the legitimacy to enforce FIFA’s already flimsy code of ethics.
Sepp Blatter, president since 1998, has proved to be an embarrassment rather than a figurehead. His suggestion that the solution to a lack of interest in women’s football was to make players wear more revealing clothing is just one example. He has presided over a decline in trust in the organisation and its procedures, and for him to have been re-elected unopposed in a virtual coronation highlights the problems faced.
Fifa have for too long been untouchable, displaying a disregard for their members and the views of football supporters. There is a clear need for Fifa to undertake comprehensive and far-reaching reforms in order to purge itself of the people and attitudes which currently damage its reputation.
In order to make itself a reputable organisation once more, Fifa should look to the example of the IOC, which acted so decisively and effectively in order to reform itself after similar corruption scandals. The IOC benefited from having a competent and respected leader in Jacques Rogge and Fifa might be well advised to address the credibility of its leadership if it wishes to improve.
The English FA has faced the dilemma of whether or not to speak out, given the risk involved of marginalising themselves in international football politics, but I am pleased to see the brave stance they have so far taken. They were entirely correct to stand up for the principles of fairness and transparency, and must now apply as much pressure as is possible to force through this reform. The process by which this can be achieved is not clear, but a willingness to rock the boat and to challenge the self-interested status quo is the first and most important requisite.
We may give up our chance of hosting the World Cup any time soon, but if the FA can do the seemingly impossible and help put Fifa on the right track, it is in our own long term interest as well football’s. That would be the biggest victory of all.
James Wharton has been Conservative party MP for Stockton South since 2010.
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