Sepp Blatter has been the head of world football’s governing body since the 8th of June 1998, bringing mostly controversy and disrepute during his time in charge. Now, a group of candidates who have had enough of the Swiss’ President’s wrongdoings look to put an end to his near 17-year reign.
In less than 40 days, Dutch Football Association president, Michael van Praag, FIFA vice president, Prince Ali of Jordan and former Portugese hero Luis Figo will find out if they have been successful in their battle to dethrone Blatter at the top of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
“We are in a crucial time for football. Both inside and outside the football family, people have expressed concern about the way FIFA is run,” reported FIFA President elect, Prince Ali of Jordan, at the presentation of his manifesto to the FIFA Executive Committee.
He went onto say that development should be a fundamental right of member Associations not a ‘gift’ from FIFA, a statement directed at Sepp Blatter’s offer of $1 billion in global development projects to member nations during his re-election campaign.
After the Michael Garcia Report, which identified alleged corruption in World Cup bids for Russia and Qatar, fellow candidate, Michael Van Praag launched an outspoken attack on Blatter to stand down at the end of his current term.
Federations have heard all the reports of alleged corruption and bribery before and yet the majority continue to vote for Sepp Blatter and have done so for the last four elections. This, often on the back of allegations of corruption, forced withdrawal of candidates and a continued lack of transparency. Why?
At the present time the President is painting a portrait of the willingness of CONCACAF and CAF nations to vote for him, Confederations, which have put their hand up to host a future World Cup.
Blatter has hinted at the re-organisation of UEFA World Cup qualification opportunities – and of course there was also the hint of a World Cup in Oceania, all hints of possible punishment or reward depending on the outcome of the election.
Prince Ali, Van Praag and Figo have presented concepts of transparency, increased funding, improvements in infrastructure, development, openness and lack of censorship, investment, commercial success and credibility, all agenda items that would be beneficial for the future of the game.
[interaction id=”5535d8a0a39598ff0551cbf8″]
President Blatter’s support and election voting power seems to come not from his election campaign, but from the rewards that his supporters may be entitled to and the punishment that may ensue for those that do not.
If one of the other candidates are successful in toppling Sepp Blatter, this time, it is imperative that the office of President of FIFA no longer have the long term power of persuasion and manipulation that it currently has, for this is not healthy for the game or its world-wide future development.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
