Warm applause greeted Sepp Blatter as he gave his acceptance speech at the FIFA gathering in Switzerland. Warm applause for goodness sake. FIFA’s reputation lies in tatters and to hear Blatter announce that his legacy for world football will be “a clean house” defies common sense. His tenure as president has given new meaning to the word corruption and his re-election comes at a time when his senior lieutenants are banged up facing charges which, if they turn out to be true, will see them in prison for many years. And it’s all been on his watch. The man’s chutzpah is beyond belief.
To be quite clear, it is now time to put up or shut up. UEFA has the opportunity to tell FIFA to do one, that its countries will not participate in the World Cup for as long as Blatter remains. Wealthy corporate partners must recognise that their good names are being tarnished by association and do the right thing, telling FIFA they will no longer tolerate corrupt practices in their names. And you know what? Neither will happen.
Beyond some noisy complaining, UEFA will quietly let business carry on as usual. They might not like Blatter, but they will not rock the boat. Separation from FIFA would have massive implications, not just for UEFA but for its constituent members. Can you really see the Premier League franchise, La Liga and all the other leagues in Europe commence an endless boycott? Or the players’ unions? It’s not going to happen. Money talks. The FA and Greg Dyke can say what they like but it’s the Premier League that carries the clout in England, not them, and you can rest assured that Scudamore’s behemoth will not risk biting the hand that feeds it.
Money talks with the sponsors too and if, for example, one Cola company pulls out, it knows another will step in. That’s business. There will be no commercial effects. By tomorrow, the story will be today’s fish and chip paper.
Wide scale corruption occurred on Blatter’s watch and FIFA delegates have now re-elected him. Beyond belief, for sure, but maybe it shouldn’t be. Blatter can now get away with anything and nothing now can stop him.
