David Ginola
’s bid to unseat Sepp Blatter as FIFA president had a farcical air to it, only because Paddy Power, known for its outlandish marketing ploys was behind it. How ironic is it now that it appears that the Irish bookmaker’s involvement in Ginola’s campaign could be the deterrent that keeps the former Newcastle United man from getting a sniff of FIFA’s version of the Iron Throne.
Turns out, if Ginola was really serious about his attempt to become the next FIFA president, the organization’s ethics code – itself a paradox in its own way – explicitly says that no candidate can “take part in, either directly or indirectly, or otherwise be associated with betting, gambling.”
Paddy Power did say that it won’t continue financially to Ginola’s candidacy “beyond January 27”, the imposed deadline for candidates to gather the necessary support of at least five football federations around the world. That in itself is a problem for Ginola because no federation has come out and supported his bid.
But the real issue could go down to the fact that Ginola’s making this bid because Paddy Power paid him 250,000 pounds to vie for the FIFA presidency. The Irish bookmaker can talk all the semantics it wants, but the combination of the possible ethics code breach and Paddy Power’s publicity mongering reputation could torpedo Ginola’s chances.
Both he and Paddy have said that his campaign is serious, even if a lot of people greeted the news of Ginola’s plans last week with a mixture of amusement of incredulity. Not exactly the two things you want people to feel when you’re serious about your intentions.
Making things even bleaker for Ginola’s candidacy is the planned support base he and Paddy Power have set up to fund his campaign. As it turns out, the Irish bookmaker will be collecting donations from football fans using a campaign website that oddly enough says that donations are “non-refundable”, through a new company called Rebooting Football Limited, which is a subsidiary firm set up by Paddy Power specifically for the purpose of Ginola’s planned candidacy. Paddy Power has since come out with a statement, contradicting its own policy by saying that fans would be reimbursed their campaign donations if Ginola doesn’t make the cut.
As if all of these things are bad enough, Ginola also misses out on a number of critical items every candidate should have on their checklist. Has he had an active role in football for any two years in the past five years? Has he worked as a “a board member, committee member, referee, assistant referee, coach, trainer [or] any other person responsible for technical, medical or administrative matters in FIFA, a Confederation, Association, League or Club”?
According to the Daily Mail, Gina’s throwing his supposed work in support of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup covers one of those requirements, while his “consultancy” work for French club Etoile Frejus Saint-Raphael should be deemed as valid work to cross out the other requirement. Seems decent, if not for the fact that Alexandre Barbero, the president of the third-tier French outfit, admitted that Ginola’s involvement in the team were limited to being an advisor “over the phone”.
If there’s one thing I’ll admit, it’s that Ginola is a fresh face that could help FIFA regain some of its luster from the heavily maligned Blatter administration. But that’s really as far as it goes. How can he be trusted to lead the organization when he doesn’t even know the names of FIFA’s executive committee?
None of that could matter, though, because Ginola will likely face immediate questioning if his ties to Paddy Power is brought up. At that point, his bid to become the next FIFA presidency could be over even before it begins.
