It being general election week here in the United Kingdom, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the FIFA Presidential election – via the medium of the four candidates’ Twitter feeds. Not because I judge this likely to offer great insights into the identity of the eventual winner: the football officials in whose hands the outcome lies are assuredly far too high-minded to be swayed by anything as trivial as social media.
But for the lessons such an exercise can teach about how such new-fangled tools can most effectively be pressed into service.
Plus for any clues regarding the candidates’ preoccupations, interests and character.
Two general points to begin with:
1. While I genuinely don’t think Twitter is a good way of assessing the likely winners of such contests, it would actually be little surprise if the finishing places corresponded with the number of followers that each candidate has.
For the record, at my cut-off point of noon on May 7, the situation was as follows: Sepp Blatter 2.67 million, Luís Figo 1.14 million, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein 191,348 (split between two accounts) and Michael van Praag 14,700.
2. While you certainly notice different things about different feeds, the number of Tweets sent by all four candidates is reasonably similar, broadly between 100 and 200, including retweets and replies.
When campaigning, a Tweet or two a day seems to be the well-balanced way.
I thought it might be informative to identify each candidate’s most retweeted, and most favourited, contributions; and indeed it was.
The Tweets by both Figo and Van Praag that inspired most interreaction were directly related to the announcement of their candidacies or programmes.
Prince Ali’s most favourited Tweet, however, is a dignified expression of grief, in Arabic, at the death of Moaz al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot killed by Islamic State.
It was presumably to distance his duties and responsibilities as brother of Jordan’s ruler, King Abdullah II, from the FIFA campaign that Prince Ali set up a separate @AliForFIFA Twitter account.
This has only 1,352 followers, however, compared with 191,000 for his main account.
So much FIFA-related material, including his manifesto, continues to be carried by that more popular account.
Blatter, the current FIFA President who is seeking a fifth term, maintains that he is not campaigning.
His always active Twitter account has, accordingly, continued in much the same vein as before.
His most-favourited Tweet is one of many retweets from the FIFA Women’s World Cup account; this one celebrates the fact that all individual tickets for the final of that competition in Vancouver later this year were sold in the space of 24 hours.
His most retweeted contribution came nine days earlier: “I also condemn the actions of a small group of Chelsea fans in Paris. There is no place for racism in football!”
For brevity’s sake, here to conclude, are one or more highlights and lowlights relating to each of the four timelines under scrutiny.
Blatter
Highlight: While his gaffes over the years have been widely reported, the FIFA President does also have an ability to find “le mot juste”, in various languages. On opening the Caribbean Football Union Congress (Apr 15), he observes, “There are no small associations”. On addressing the African Football Confederation (CAF), he notes: “Above all stressed what Africa has given to global football”. Not the other way around.
Lowlight: Team photo (Jan 30) with the United Arab Emirates squad who came third in the Asian Cup.
Luís Figo
Highlight: Excellent snapshot at CAF Congress with Isha Johansen of Sierra Leone (Apr 6). Also retweet of a link to an article prefaced by the comment, “Unlike #Blatter, no speaking time for @michaelvanpraag, @LuisFigo & @AliBinAlHussein at the AFC Congress”.
Lowlight: This rather out-of-the-blue comment (in three languages): “Those who question @Cristiano’s passion for Real @realmadrid and his professionalism, completely ignore his history and his character.” I may be cynical, and I would certainly not argue the substance of Figo’s point, but I would not be surprised if the said @Cristiano came out in support of his old Portuguese team-mate at some point.
Prince Ali
Highlight: Photographs with the Pope (Apr 23); a worldwide Muslim/Catholic alliance would take some beating in the context of FIFA, even for a rival with Blatter’s political dexterity. Also, interview (Mar 17) with star journalist, Christiane Amanpour.
Lowlight: This comment Tweeted on the day (Apr 6) he launched his manifesto. “It is clear to me that FIFA currently rides rather than drives the success of the beautiful game of football.” The vocabulary seems to sit more easily with the equestrian world over which his sister, Princess Haya, until recently presided.
Michael van Praag
Highlight: Great old photograph (Mar 12) from Ajax days with Louis van Gaal, now the Manchester United manager. Also, an unintentionally inspired misprint: “The UEFA Congress is bound to begin.”
Lowlight: “Lennart Johansson gave me one advice: ‘Do it your way!'” In his day, Johansson, the former UEFA President, was a great sports administrator. However, when he ran against Blatter for the FIFA Presidency in 1998, he lost.
David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen’s Twitter feed can be accessed at www.twitter.com/dodo938.