The mountain has given birth to three mice. What started out as a solid promise to “dismantle the FIFA monster”, has taken on the characteristics of playground posturing and classroom semantics.
As we had predicted in our last editorial (http://www.insideworldfootball.com/inside-insight/16241-prediction-here-comes-the-new-old-fifa-president), the champagne was first to lose its bubbles and flatly left the race.
The two jokers who “entered” late, left as swiftly as they had arrived, leaving no bubbles and only hot hair behind.
What we have now are two creations of a master-planner and one candidate who forcefully defends his belief that he is very much his own man (although we do ask ourselves about veracity, when one of the three speaks of an alliance in the making).
From everything we have been told since our last observations (see link above), INSIDE was right on the money with its analysis. So right in fact, that we received ugly emails and even uglier phone calls from those who pull the strings – but none to the Editor though a few to the correspondent whom they wrongly blamed for having lifted the lid on that disingenuous but smelly kettle of fish best called “collective campaigning”.
But what is still astounding is that while there are three candidates to throw Blatter off his throne, none of them have much of a chance.
Mr van Praag is a solid and professional administrator who would certainly merit a stint in football’s highest office. What he lacks is notoriety and relationships that neither his football body nor his confederation can deliver.
Enter Figo, whose career is as shiny as can be, and who was one of the world’s most gifted footballers. He was so good that in the early ‘noughties’ he won the title of Best Footballer in the World. Odd that nobody ever mentions his stint at Al Rayyan football club in…errh…yes: Qatar. As for his administrative qualities, we don’t know much about them. Which is irrelevant. What is relevant is that 209 voters don’t know either. And it is they who matter, not the media nor the dubious politicians who have jumped on what clearly looked like a convenient bandwagon to polish their own domestic profiles.
Lastly, enter the Prince whose own backyard allies are now standing at a distance: none of the Royals in West Asia will permit a vote in his favour. And there you have it: a Prince without the cloth that would make him King (of football). He, too, is a good man, a kind man, and a fighter, no doubt. But no matter how he arrived at the election platform (reluctantly forced to run?) his run, too, will likely be in vain.
And so to the hustings. What many, or most, fail to understand, nor seem to want to, is that public debates probably serve no-one in the reality of this vote. But, what the hell, if we are infact edging towards a TV-style presidential debate, why stop there? Why not put the competitors in a Big Brother FIFA House, or perhaps run a Hunger Games kind of televised event? Let’s bring a bit of showbiz into this for goodness sake. After all, if we are moving to Winter 2022 the TV cash could come in handy if a shortfall needs to be made up. Greg knows what we’re talking about, after all, he was the ‘geezer’ who appointed a Rat (Roland Rat…google him) to present breakfast television in the UK.
It is of no real significance which English, US or Australian platform declares its undying love for one of the three candidates. While it is a given that all and sundry hate the incumbent,(as sure as eggs are round) it is somewhat idiotic – even for seasoned/career haters – to assume that the five hundred-strong FIFA machine is a one man show, where nobody is to blame other than the man at the top. Really? The often drawn parallel of a big corporate boss being sacked at the shareholders meeting for the company’s failure doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. FIFA as a corporation isn’t failing, if that is the measurement criteria, as its shareholders seem to like the way its dividends are paid.
But in any case, what about the FIFA Board that sits above the incumbent? The Executive Committee Members? Ahh.. that’s irrelevant in this piece? OK… Or is this the culture of “intimidation” that the Prince is alluding to – he has been one of this group for a couple of years. Has he been bullied in the playground? Certainly there are some big boys in this playground but haven’t the real baddies been removed already, or did they just replace them with more baddies.
Ultimately what matters is not public opinion. What matters are the voters. From Guam to Brazil, from London to Namibia, from Antigua to Papua New Guinea.
The more the Anglo-Saxon media machine and world (and two/three German appendices) bash Blatter, the more the former colonies of that very world close their ranks and shout: “get outta my face, you post-colonialists!” and vote for the president they know, and not the (hopefully) well-meaning competitors. On one hand this is FIFA’s paradox, on the other it is perhaps FIFA’s vortex.
The despair has been tangible. A masterplan was born, one hears, penned by an expert who has yet to win a fight at FIFA. From where we stand, we feel that history is repeating itself.
More than four years have passed since that eventful day in early December of 2010, when two nations walked away with the biggest prizes in world sport event hosting. Like it or not they did and that isn’t changing. So what now?
Four years later, and the time inbetween has been masterfully wasted.
There is no candidate who has the relationships that would have made a difference when it comes to getting elected. No-one who would have any credibility with the voters (which, again, are not the Anglo-Saxon media, no matter how hard they try/cry). No-one has been found who can seriously challenge a man of 79 years.
Instead, the talking heads continue to cry foul, debate the (perceived but so far unproven) misdeeds and yet conveniently forget that some of them have serious ethics issues to consider themselves. One of them was kicked out for ethics violations before pontificating a few years later about how clean and proper things need to be. Sore loser, bad taste. Hypocritical at best.
Four years on, the mountain of opposition has given birth to three mice.
But they are not dancing. And by the looks of it, they never will.
INSIDE Editorial is Insideworldfootball’s comment on the politics and the business of football in a world that isn’t always quite what it seems. Its intention is to be thought provoking and challenging. It is often irreverent and frequently hits where it hurts – the truth often does. It is usually filed by the Editor-in-Chief. From time to time, opinions of the editorial board are summarised and occasionally, an Op-Ed piece by an invited guest writer is published. Since the INSIDE Editorial reflects our own views, it is not signed each time, except if an outside guest pens an Op-Ed piece.