By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
February 26 – Arguably the most crucial summit in FIFA’s 112-year history got under way this morning with a final rallying cry from its outgoing acting president to endorse the much-touted detailed reform package designed to totally overhaul the culture of world football’s scandal-plagued governing body.
The main purpose of the 207-member extraordinary congress (Kuwait and Indonesia have been disqualified over a long-standing dispute over government interference) may be to elect a new president but Issa Hayatou, in his address to delegates, stressed the need to sweep away the stench of corruption once and for all.
“Too often FIFA has been at the centre of the world’s attention for all the wrong reasons,” Hayatou told delegates. “Together we are determined to refocus. We have to restore trust and improve our way of working — and that begins today. The reforms are far-reaching and progressive and will help us build a stronger Fifa. The time has come to designate the person who will guide us at this very difficult time…to define a new vision of FIFA.”
He continued: “The future should not fill us with fear but let’s be crystal clear: a small minority no longer have their place in football or anywhere in the future of our organisation. We have a great opportunity to set the record straight and we need to seize it. Today we are laying the first stone of a stronger FIFA. Repairing our reputation rests on our shoulders…to win back the faith of everybody.”
Referring to the challenge ahead after the 18-year Sepp Blatter era which, latterly, was embroiled in unprecedented crisis with a raft of high-profile arrests and bribery indictments that brought FIFA to its knees, Hayatou said it would not be easy for whoever takes over and that he would have to develop “a creative spirit, diplomacy and about above all perseverance.”
“The number one priority must be to build a new FIFA. It’s a turning point in our history. We stand united in our attempt to learn from recent events and restore the image of FIFA. To reach this aim, the reforms are fundamental and vital to the future heath of the game.”
After delivering the traditional president’s address that for so long was the personal property of Blatter, Hayatou was followed to the podium by a surprise visit from International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, whose organisation had its own corruption scandal over the 2002 Salt Lake City winter Olympics.
“This is an extraordinary day in more than one sense,” said Bach. “You will not only elect a new president but also decide on future of world football. You have this great chance to turn the page and start a new chapter.”
“We in the IOC know from bitter experience that this is not an easy process. We know from our history what it takes to restore credibility.”
In the final minutes before congress, Shaikh Salman and Gianni Infantino, the two front-runners for the presidency, met and greeted as many delegates as they could in the cavernous Hallenstadion in northern Zurich, the same venue where Blatter won a fifth term in late May before announcing just a few days later he was stepping down in the wake of what had become insurmountable pressure. Since then, of course, Blatter has himself become seriously damaged, his ban for breaking ethics rules preventing him from personally attending and handing over to his successor.
Outside the conference hall, a group of pro-Salman sympathisers held up “vote for Salman” placards countering allegations of human rights violations against the Bahraini head of Asian football who was to discover later in the day whether he had beaten Infantino and by what margin, with the three other candidates unlikely to survive beyond the first round, perhaps with the exception of Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.
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