‘Dirty side’ of soccer
Print Edition
THE result should now be known, but in the early hours of this morning, as Shanghai Daily went to press, it was expected that world soccer boss Sepp Blatter would be re-elected, defying growing calls for him to step down in the face of corruption scandals engulfing the sport’s governing body.
To win, Blatter needed two-thirds of the 209 votes. As he failed to cross that threshold — Blatter took 133 of the 206 votes — it went to a second round, when a majority would determine the winner.
Addressing delegates at FIFA’s annual Congress in Switzerland, where members began voting to decide the organization’s presidency, Blatter promised more transparency and urged members to remain unified.
The 79-year-old Swiss, who has been president since 1998 and is seeking a fifth term, gave a far more assured delivery than his challenger, 39-year-old Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
Prince Ali looked more nervous and his speech was a little lighter on substance than Blatter, who got a round of applause when he told the 209 delegates he “did not want to leave them.”
Blatter, who joined FIFA in 1975, said he felt that he had only been at FIFA for a short time and wanted to stay longer.
“What is time anyway. I find that the time I have spent at FIFA is very short,” he said, “The more one ages the more time flies by quickly. I am with you, and I would like to stay with you,” he said to a round of applause.
Addressing the problems FIFA is facing regarding corruption charges against past and present members of world soccer’s governing body, he said these problems needed to be addressed immediately. Change would start tomorrow, he said.
Prince Ali, who spent four years on the FIFA executive committee before leaving it yesterday to be replaced by Shaikh Salman of Bahrain, pledged an open, more democratic FIFA if he won the vote.
“We have heard in recent days, voices which described our FIFA as an avaricious body which feeds on the game that the world loves.
“We have heard questions raised about whether our family is morally bankrupt. And we have heard countless individuals ponder how on earth it could have gotten so bad.
“There are no easy answers. And no blame that can be cast that will wash away the stain that marks us all,” he said.
“Change is not an event. It is a process. It is not about empowering wrongdoing and then demanding to root it out. Our path — and our way to the future — must be lit by the creation of a culture that empowers transparency, inclusively and accountability.
“Our rehabilitation in public perception will only come through the actions and work of all of us, together, pulling in the same direction, for the good of the sport, and for FIFA,” the prince said.
Europe, which accounts for all but three of the countries that have made it to a World Cup’s final, is particularly keen to banish Blatter. But Asian, African and Latin American states were expected to rally around him. Each of the 209 countries in FIFA has an equal vote.
Earlier, on a visit to Berlin, British Prime Minister David Cameron told Blatter to go “the sooner the better.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the dirty side of soccer must be cleaned up.
US authorities have accused top FIFA figures and sports executives of corruption, while Switzerland is investigating the award of the next World Cup finals to Russia and Qatar. The scandal widened yesterday when Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said it was examining possible corruption at FIFA.
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