In FIFA We Trust?

Football has never been immune to scandal and corruption. Whether it’s bribery, match-fixing, betting, or blackmailing, the truth is that behind the scenes, the beautiful game is anything but. Somehow, though, it would be nice to believe that there was some trusted source that could act as a shining beacon in a sport filled with greed and corruption…. say, maybe the sport’s world governing body? You know, that watchdog of goodness, filled with former players and people who are honestly elected by model nations and have only altruistic intentions? Yeah, FIFA… the crown jewel of honesty, model behavior, and respect, right? Oh. Maybe not so much.

So it seems like that stoic portrait of honor and trust is only vaguely believable when there is nothing to be gained. Considering that within 7 months’ time, 2 World Cups were awarded and “elections” will be held for FIFA president, then we shouldn’t expect any kind of good behavior for quite some time, as that is a whole heck of a lot to be gained.

The bribery issues came to the forefront in advance of the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in early December. FIFA President Sepp Blatter, in an attempt to convince us of the impenetrable rock of integrity that FIFA is, moved swiftly to administer justice to the accused. With six FIFA Executive Committee members accused, two were suspended and unable to vote, including FIFA Vice President Amos Adamu. Blatter was careful to not suspend all of them so as to have enough voting members to be able to stay on his timeline for the voting process.

Shockingly, with the elections for FIFA President looming in a couple of weeks, it was revealed this week by Lord Triesman, Chair of the English Football Association, that there are at least four and as many as six more FIFA executive committee members reported to have asked for money or favors in exchange for their vote during the World Cup bidding process. (It was nice of them to stagger the accusations, news organizations really appreciate that kind of thing…maybe they are on the take, too?)

So with this newest round of scandal, it begs the question: can we ever put our trust in this organization? Does the fact that its offices are nestled in a sweet little neutral country known for delicious chocolate and great skiing make up for the ridiculous amounts of power afforded to such a select few? And who do we get to police the police? The European Union says they will step in to audit, etc., but do they have any actual power to do anything? How long can we keep the corruption off of the pitch? Is there something we can do to prevent at least some of the corruption?

One thing is for sure. The credibility of FIFA has never been more pristine. Because when it comes to FIFA, we are guaranteed that someone is going to get greedy and/or power hungry. The question is how far can we keep this corruption from the beautiful game?