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FIFA is in desperate need of an overhaul

Roar Rookie
13th November, 2014
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Sepp Blatter has actually been pretty good for football in Australia.
Roar Rookie
13th November, 2014
7

Michael Garcia’s report into FIFA corruption during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has revealed just how rotten the whole organisation is. But this really isn’t news.

For years, many commentators have warned about widespread wrongdoing across FIFA dealings, particularly surrounding World Cup bidding. So while the stench has hung around them for years, how does a President like Sepp Blatter survive?

FIFA has been set up to control football. If you’re not with them, you’re against them. By controlling the individual football confederations and pushing the agenda to keep the ‘right’ elected officials in place, Blatter has built around him a team of administrators who only answer to their wallets.

The problems with getting rid of Blatter is that the culture behind football administration will not change. Already we have seem heir apparent to Blatter’s job, Mohammed bin Hammam, sacked from FIFA due to corruption allegations, and yet Blatter has avoided any sustained research from those at the FIFA ethics committee.

Should FIFA have any serious investigation into their own practices there are still plenty of others in the system that could take up the mantle.

Every time a successful football tournament is held, there is Blatter, usually hand in hand with the leader of the host nation and a entourage of administrators. By joining in the celebrations of a game the is universally loved,

Blatter can portray the image that he is one of the fans, and doing his best to put on a good show for the benefit of the people. While this is probably true of his jobs in some respect, he also plays the game, knowing that if the crowds are happy and FIFA’s tournaments are successful then the case to challenge his leadership is diminished. Fear is the great motivator against change and while the World Cup still has a shiny trophy to present at the end of it, fans will not care who is running the show.

Fitting in with that conservative outlook, FIFA have often taken the easier stance when it comes to the issues of the day. Blatter has secured his position by not upsetting the apple cart, ignoring the chance to make the game great in order to assert his control.

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Socially, the world of football should be using its resources to lift poverty in regions of the world, promote diversity of cultures while stamping out racism, and to challenge the long-held notions that football is only played by straight white men.

Football, or ‘the world game’ as it is known, should be leading the world.

But by not pressing these issues, Blatter has avoided doing a tough sell and hard work in favour of the status quo. Even on issues within the laws of the game, such as replays for referees and goal-line technology, Blatter’s conservative stance has been more for political posturing rather than the betterment of the game.

So the onus now falls onto us, the fans, the writers and the lovers of football.

Do we stand by to encourage mediocrity from FIFA? Do we allow ourselves to be distracted by the World Cup instead of the machinations behind the scenes? Or do we make the point that we are in charge, we are the ones who count, and without us, the game is nothing.

Let us not stop protesting until the game is back in our hands.

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