By Shepherd Mutsvara
So the supreme leader of
the global FIFA has resigned! Or is he thinking of resigning after grooming a
successor? Sepp Blatter’s resignation speech, delivered in an empty newsroom,
far from the madding crowd, is a stark contrast to his jubilant and triumphant speech,
just days ago when he ran down his opponent to the ropes during extra time of
FIFA much televised elections. This is one election in which the United Nations,
European Union and strangely the FBI prayed to rig in favour of a candidate not
named Blatter!
So what has made Sepp Blatter
step down and call for a profound overhaul of the organisation? Is it because
the vase is leaking from the top?
Soccer has become a global
commodity. It has generated more income and jobs than all sports combined. It has
a television audience of half the world’s population, with 265 million soccer
players and more than 5million officials. This global reach has had an impact
on most facets of life: from cultural to legal. When one Luis Suarez blatantly
handled a goal bound shot and effectively hounded Ghana out of the 2010 World Cup,
moral theories were bandied out. Some took a legal positivist approach, and
argued that Suarez did nothing wrong according to the game’s rules. After all,
the referee punished him with a red card and awarded the ultimate punishment
for his misdemeanour: penalty! From Zinedine head butt to disgraced Zimbabwean
players who fixed matches in Asia, the message is that FIFA and all its affiliates
must lead by example!
Soccer has taught us to
win or lose with dignity! And so it follows, FIFA as an organisation must not
be run like a spaza-shop! Corporate governance must be the victory song!
Issah Hayatou,who has been
at the helm of African football since 1988,blatantly yelled at a journalist
last week saying that corruption is common in society. This was when the Swiss police,
under the instruction of the FBI, raided the hotel where most senior Fifa
delegates were housed for the elections, and arrested several leaders for
corruption.Fifa has been mired in corruption scandals since the World Cup came
to Africa in 2010. Slush funds have been paid to officials as bribes under the
unwatchful eye of Sepp Blatter. In response Blatter has shrugged his shoulders
and said he is not responsible for the bad behaviour of the few under his watch.
What official nonsense from a leader of a revered organisation like Fifa!
The scandals underlying
the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups is unsettling to the beautiful
game and its followers. Evidence points to the fact that Fifa officials have
been given a golden handshake that goes beyond the elbow. Mohammed bin Hamman,
the Qatari former Fifa Vice President, is known to have kept a slush fund of $5million
which was wired to delegates who voted in favour of Qatar to host the 2022
World Cup. As we read this piece, the South African officials are arguing their
case, saying that the $10million paid to Fifa official, Jack Warner, was not a
bribe! Fikile Mbalula, the energetic Minster of Sport in the tip of Africa, is
battling for words to describe the payment.
It’s a long winding tale
of who is bribing who……!
Now the question for
determination is: if all of Sepp Blatter teammates have been dragged to the
courts for scoring against good corporate governance…how many goals have the
Captain scored against his own team?
Only time will tell.
