Instead of calming down, FIFA "is getting more conflictive every day," according to Ignacio Naya of the DPA. FIFA "is a hotbed of conspiracies and plots, against the background of the battle for the organization's presidency" in '15. There is a battle between incumbent President Sepp Blatter and his "big rival" UEFA President Michel Platini. FIFA's congress in Sao Paulo "will be just the latest episode in the increasingly tense confrontation between these two figures." After admitting that "he himself voted for Qatar, Platini is the principal political victim of the wave of criticism about the Qatar decision." Meanwhile, Blatter managed to distance himself from the decision, calling it "a mistake" to hold the World Cup there in summer when the temperature could reach 50 degrees celsius. Platini told French sports daily L'Equipe, "I don't know who is behind all this." L'Equipe suggested that "not only Blatter might be behind the anti-Platini campaign but also Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Sunday Times and television channels including BskyB and Fox" (DPA, 6/9). The SUNDAY STAR TIMES' Mark Reason opined, go on New Zealand Football CEO Andy Martin, "do the right thing." Resign from FIFA. Tell the world, as NZ Football CEO, that "this country wants nothing more to do with the charlatans and conmen who run the world game." Go "it alone." We will be the poorer for it, but at least we will not "have blood on our hands." FIFA "is probably the most corrupt body in world sport," having recently passed the IOC on the back straight. FIFA "is running its own internal investigation, which is a bit like the Mafia appointing a Sicilian banker to run due process on them." FIFA Chief Investigator Michael Garcia, the American responsible for the FIFA audit, "is viewed by some as having a reputation for serving his political masters," a cadre that included former U.S. President George W. Bush. The barrel is trained on former FIFA VP Mohamed bin Hammam, "who is alleged to have paid millions of dollars in bribes in order to facilitate Qatar's bid." In many ways "this is trivia." This is how FIFA "does business." Do you imagine that Russia, "who as part of the same process won the rights to the 2018 World Cup, did so without offering inducements." You "get the picture." Football "is filthy." How "glorious it would be if one footballer withdrew from this World Cup, sickened by all the cheating and corruption." How "glorious it would be if New Zealand set an example to countries that could make a difference like America, Japan, England and Germany, and quit" FIFA (SUNDAY STAR TIMES, 6/8).
TIME TO ABOLISH FIFA? In N.Y., Dave Zirin in a special wrote FIFA is "plagued by levels of corruption, graft and excess that would shame Silvio Berlusconi." Under the "iron-fisted leadership of Sepp Blatter, FIFA has been steeped in rotating scandals for so long, it’s difficult even to imagine its not being immersed in one public relations crisis or another." FIFA for decades has "entered the nations of the world with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball causing catastrophic damage, and every four years it gets away with it." The world is finally "seeing FIFA for what it is: a stateless conglomerate that takes bribes while acting as a battering ram for world leaders who want to use the majesty of the World Cup to push through their development agendas at great human cost." It is "past time to abolish FIFA" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/8). The GLOBE & MAIL's Jeff Gray wrote FIFA is "facing perhaps the biggest test of its 110-year history," as the governing body is "under siege as it grapples with mounting allegations of bribery and corruption that span the globe and involve millions of dollars." The "mess at FIFA," which expects to rake in $4.5B in revenue from this year’s World Cup alone, "comes as corporations and governments around the world shift their attitudes toward bribery, a practice that until recently was quietly tolerated as the cost of doing business in certain parts of the world" (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/7). A N.Y. TIMES editorial stated, "No games are watched as intently as World Cup games. FIFA owes it to the world to strengthen its watch so soccer fans can cheer without any doubts" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/8). Smith College sports economics professor Andrew Zimbalist in a special to the BOSTON GLOBE wrote under the header, "IOC And FIFA: Monopoly Power Makes Pricey Games" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/8).
