FIFA - Mafia Wars

What are FIFAs future plans when the new head of FIFA is elected on May the 29th. - the tie between Sepp and Blatter has kept us entertained for some time only to show the true face of both disaster and tragedy when it comes to leadership and proactiveness in the organisational heart of football also know as FIFA.

FIFA is an unpleasant reminder of what can happen!

Basicly every rule has been broken. Trafficking of influences, wiretapping, money laundering, illegal payoffs, electoral malpractice and racketeering - the list is long, and there has been a kind of quiet public acceptance of the internal mayhem as it has been known to the public for a long time. The media has been raising their eyebrows and voices for years, warning about the administrative collapse in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association better known as FIFA. 

What has made this so frustrating over the years is the fact that the FIFA perpetrators work in broad daylight with the whole world as an audience and apparently there are absolutely no one to stop them - until now.

What went wrong?
As impotent spectators we can only shrug our shoulders and hope for changes and justice. We are still able to watch the games from the Champions League and World tournaments so why worry at all?

Sepp Blatter is a man of many talents!

The way Sepp Blatter has been able to practise a treacherous "laissez faire," circumventing good business practise but also decency for that matter, points to a system with an infrastructure that has been shattered to its very core. A system held hostage by itself with a despot holding the reins truly believing that the destination is more important than the means to get there. Apparently there is no stopping the buck. The votes for May 29th. have yet again been arranged by its ever present "CEO," Sepp Blatter who will be ready to enter his fifth term as the FIFA President when the votes are counted - and that in itself should be worrying enough!

Sad but true!
When the legal infrastructure in an international organisation can be taken advantage off to such an extent that the unthinkable management style becomes a de facto standard for business as usual, one would think that it was imperative to secure the loopholes so to further a clean, fair and transparent handling in the sport of football between nations. 

This is when it stops being a laughing matter and much more a serious question of how to deal with the blatant trafficking of influences exercised by the members of the FIFA organisation. Unfortunately there has been no resolve or interest in finding a solution during the dictatorship of the present and future President of FIFA.

Who has the power? The organisation or the man? 

Taking the vague human spirit for what it is, the question might not so much be whether one leader should be substituted by another but more a question of which leader has the ability to change the legal infrastructure, conditions for voting and exercise a better control of the large amounts of money so to eradicate the hidden agendas 

when "spending" in the name of football and Golden Projects. Transparency is key in order to get success in any organisation, FIFA is not an exception in theory but in practise it is!

FIFAs future seems predetermined by its present chaos
As an organisation FIFA is tainted by its past and present leadership. Its legacy is only as strong as the sport it represents, but as an institution and international sports organisation it has completely failed. There are no guidelines for improvement, nepotism is ripe and bad decisions are rewarded just to mention a few of the surprises, we have seen along the Blatter reign.

Chuck Blazer and Sepp Blatter

The arrests of six FIFA officials in Zurich has only been possible because of the FBI, its team of investigators, the collaboration of the Suisse police and former FIFA executive committee member, Chuck Blazer, who decided to squeal in order to avoid prison. Since then Sepp Blatter has not travelled to the US out of fear of a possible FBI indictment.

Mobsters who reign in the name of football

The very same is now about to get elected as FIFA President for a fifth time, as he was not included in the FBI round-up this time. When the six arrested officials start explaining their actions it could have serious consequences for Sepp Blatter, or maybe not. He has been in the business to long to know that you never get your own hands dirty - that you leave for somebody else.



Any saviours on the slate at all, anybody?


Against all odds! Figo and Van de Praag stands no chance

As the other serious contenders for the job, Luis Figo and de Praag have decided to pull out in protest over the electoral process, the Presidential election is now centered on two contestants.

The second option has presented FIFA with a series of solutions - at least according to Prince Ali Bin Al-Husseins own football manifest - but it does sound promising! 

Judge for yourself! 


His actions also speaks for themselves, leaving us a picture of a man who gives more importance to the game than its organisation. According to his manifesto, he has seen and felt the sickness and is willing to do what it takes to change the system. His winning chances are minute as fairness is not a de facto standard in the halls of football politics. 
He is backed by the two previous contenders and one should think that he with such a strong backing would stand a chance but having secured votes with "donations," Sepp Blatter will be a difficult adversary on the electoral slate.

Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein shows resolve for a clean-up!

If common sense prevails on May, 29th. FIFA might be taking a turn for the better thus making this election its biggest chance to employ the parachute and break off the free fall down the pit of favours and nepotism. One must be aware that in order to restore faith in FIFA, a serious clean up must be performed and this is probably going to annoy some pretty important people in the organisation itself. 


So one thing is getting a new helmsman, quite another is to steer the huge ship around the pitfalls represented by years of playing Monopoly with something you don´t own. 

If, on the other hand, common sense should not prevail, the future of FIFA seems bleak. As the deterioration of its own image will continue, resulting in a huge gamble with sponsors and fans alike but also its ability to influence global fairness through football.


What is wrong with sports?

All great organisations have issues!

The IOC is also a victim of what seems to be the decay of too much money and too many participants with a hidden agenda. The IOC has the same problem as FIFA, just on a much larger scale but they seem to handle the corruption much better than FIFA being more secretive when conducting their illegal business when the spoils are up for grabs. 

FIFA is also under much more surveillance from the media being involved in far more events than the IOC which automatically puts it on the frontlines of public scrutiny - with regards to IOC we are basically only reminded every four years!
But why does these great organisations, that supposedly try to make the best of the sport that people love, fail so miserably in their intents?

Doctors orders: Change of attitude
A culprit must be found. The finger points towards the man rather than the organisation for obvious reasons, but if the man as a political animal was constrained to act within a closed circuit of rules, seasoned with transparency, it would be less tempting to manipulate the system to satisfy his false sense of ownership. If a consensus is manipulated and paid for it is not a consensus! 

A change in the internal structure together with the handling of funds altogether is the only means of survival for FIFA and right now the only one who seems willing and capable to do something about it is Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein if he gets elected on May 29th.