Look, I wish we could all just ignore the stink and enjoy the game, but FIFA is making it increasingly difficult. Why did Michel Platini vote for Qatar? Is he senile already? Or is there something else going on? The conspiracy theorists are given more fodder each passing day.
It doesn’t make matters any better when you read a book like Brett Forrest‘s The Big Fix: The Hunt for the Match-Fixers Bringing Down Soccer
Forrest points out that more than 700 international matches have been fixed since 2008. The book traces the story of Chris Eaton (former head of security for FIFA) as he tries to track down the shadows haunting the beautiful game. What’s so depressing is that Ralk Mutschke, FIFA’s new security chief, doesn’t appear to be doing too much about the problem. Witness this warmup game, for example. See this BBC report as well.
How’s this quote sound to you?
Blatter himself was exonerated by Fifa because the receipt of commercial bribes was not a crime in Switzerland at the time he knew the money was paid to Havelange.
What’s wrong with FIFA? Like many global multinationals, FIFA has lost its soul, focusing more on profits than the game itself. The utter lack of transparency in FIFA’s governance structure makes it the banana republic of sports organizations. And if FIFA won’t police itself, maybe the fans should do it for them.
Any suggestions on how this could be done?
Here are a few ideas:
– Tar and feather Sepp Blatter and all FIFA executives. Ok this may not be practical, but we just thought we’d put it out there for popular consideration.
– Stop betting, period. If all the betting companies lost 30% of their revenues, maybe they’d kick up a stink about fixing the game.
– Boycott Switzerland, Panama, and all the other money havens. Why is it that a “civilized” country like Switzerland earns its daily bread through the blood money of the world’s gangsters?
– Create an open-source organizational alternative to FIFA. This is what will happen eventually if FIFA doesn’t stop acting like a drug cartel.
Alright, I’m getting a bit upset, but it’s time to end this madness and save the game from its so-called guardians. FIFA gets an F, for now. Let’s see what happens at Brazil 2014.
BTW, it’s not like corruption is a brand new practice. There are ways to do this properly, and FIFA’s reluctance to do so makes it an accessory to high crimes against football.