Sepp Blatter is running for FIFA presidency for a fifth consecutive time this week.
His latest presidential run could not have possibly come at a worse time though, as Friday’s presidential election comes just three days after seven FIFA officials were arrested on bribery charges that are thought to exceed $150 million (USD) over a 24-year period dating back to 1991.
The seven FIFA officials were arrested after the US Department of Justice issued a 47-count indictment charging 14 defendants with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies after it was believed that those charged used US banks to launder the money. Among those arrested included FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb,former Brazilian Football Confederation president Jose Maria Marin and former vice-president Jack Warner.
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“The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted,” said US attorney general Loretta Lynch.
“It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.”
The latest indictment is just another black mark in what has become a long list of corruption allegations against world football’s governing body.
Whether it’s ex-FIFA president Stanley Rous forcing the USSR to play in Chile at a time when communist sympathisers were being executed in Chile, to Joao Havelange and his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira accepting millions in bribes for World Cup broadcasting rights, to Mohammed bin Hammam offering bribes for votes at the last presidential election, the list is ongoing and is an indisputable part of FIFA’s history.
For all of FIFA’s charitable, anti-racism and equality campaigns, corruption and bribery has been rife within FIFA for decades now, and as we approach the organisation’s latest election, it seems that yet another FIFA election will be marred by corruption.
Although FIFA president Sepp Blatter has never been found guilty of corruption in his reign as FIFA president, he has been alleged of financial mismanagement, and in April 2012 the Council of Europe published a report which stated it would be “difficult to imagine” that Blatter would have been unaware of “significant sums” paid to unnamed FIFA officials by ISSM/ISL in connection with lucrative contracts for World Cup television rights.
Although Blatter is going for a fifth term as FIFA’s figureheard, the list of his detractors seemingly grows by the day, and as Football Association Ireland chief executive John Delaney puts it:
“There’s always controversy around FIFA and its decisions and its governance, and the one person that’s always been at the head of that has been Sepp Blatter, and he has to take some responsibility at this stage. If it wasn’t so serious, it’d sound like something out of a mafia movie.”
While Blatter is a far cry from a Don Vito Corleone or a Paul Cicero, the latest allegations are damning, especially given the fact Blatter claimed in April 2013 that FIFA had the mechanisms and means to ensure corruption does not happen again.
Despite the litany of allegations, corruption scandals, World Cup bid questions and now several top officials being arrested, Blatter is still the overwhelming favourite to be re-elected for a fifth term in office with English bookmakers William Hill installing the Swiss president as 1/16 favourite for re-election.
There is no question that Blatter has helped navigate and grow world football through its infancy and growing stages of professionalism, but whether he is re-elected or not on Friday, his reign will always be remembered for being the head of an organisation that was marred by corruption for decades.
Although the 79-year-old was never directly found guilty of corruption himself, the allegations, charges, indictments, arrests and resignations of those that served under him have done irreversible damage to the world game and his promises to stamp out corruption were ultimately unfulfilled.
While FIFA may need to look at completely restructuring how it awards tournaments and television rights, for now it looks like Blatter will once again assume the mandate of FIFA President.
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