To say that football’s world governing body is in turmoil might be the understatement of the week. Next week FIFA is supposed to be electing their new president, aka Sepp Blatter’s third coronation as the embattled organization’s leader. It was all looking plain sailing until he did something that he will never do again – rile up the English.
He should have known better. Come international tournaments, the English are those always likely to cause trouble. Their feverish pursuit of justice since the decision to award Russia and Qatar the next two world cups should be no surprise. No one ever really considered that Blatter himself would be investigated. Especially not by his own organization.
It all means that both candidates (Qatar’s Mohamed bin Hammam being the other) are facing an inquiry meaning that the election should have to wait. Knowing FIFA, they’ll manage to do some running repairs and get it underway next week. It’s lost a hell of a lot of credibility this time though.
The hearing is scheduled for Sunday and also includes CONCACAF president Jack Warner. Not wanting to be far from the whole furor, British sports minister Hugh Robertson, commented, “I think the process is fast descending into a farce. It’s impossible to have a sensible election when both of the candidates have been accused of corruption. The sensible thing would be to suspend the election until these allegations have been properly investigated.”
Whether or not anything actually happens remains to be seen. Blatter has seen off accusations before and may well do again. It does give hope to those that think football has been corrupt for all these years and have regularly been told to hush up. Those in England will hope that this somehow turns around and means that they have a chance at hosting the 2022 World Cup. Have to perfect those floating air conditioned stadiums first. I’ve heard it’s a stipulation if you want to host the tournament!
