Michael Platini, former UEFA president, and Sepp Blatter, former FIFA president, were denied appeals on their ban from all football activities this week. However, the FIFA appeals committee did decide to reduce the ban from eight years to six, based on the duo’s “service to the game.” Both Platini and Blatter claim they are innocent and plan to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to lift their ban, but with the election of Gianni Infantino as President of FIFA, it appears that the soccer world is moving on without them.

Infantino was previously an adviser to Platini, but when seven of FIFA’s highest ranking officials were arrested five months ago, he transitioned from UEFA secretary general to the race for the FIFA presidency–a far more contentious position. Infantino’s primary competitor was Sheikh Salman, who ran on a platform of transforming FIFA from a Euro-centric governing body to a truly international organization that would recognize the interests of soccer around the world. Despite this noble ideal of creating a more equitable soccer world, Sheik Salman did not build the solid constituency that Infantino managed to construct.  This could be attributed to Sheik Salman’s allegedly checkered past when it comes to human rights–he was connected with the jailing and torture of Bahraini athletes who peacefully protested against his family during the Arab Spring.

Infantino has multiple issues to tackle during his first several weeks in office. The most immediate concern regards Russia and Qatar’s respective bids for hosting World Cups. The circumstances by which those countries secured the bids are under investigation by Swiss law enforcement, but the chance of FIFA reneging on the bids is relatively slim. Construction has already begun on stadiums and tourist attractions in Qatar, and although the working conditions on these construction sites have caused outrage among human rights activists, there is no sign of development slowing down.

A troubling prospect for the 2022 Qatar World Cup is that Platini and Blatter might be able to return to football just in time to participate in the tournament. The shortening of their sentences leaves the door open for them to participate, either within FIFA or through smaller organizations that will be working on logistical issues in Qatar. Argentina’s legendary Diego Maradona recently stated that he feels Platini and Blatter should receive life in prison for their abuse of power, and while that seems like an extreme reaction, it is clear to many that their current sentence is not a sufficient punishment for their crime.

Missing the 2018 Russia World Cup may be a blow to the egos of Platini and Blatter but if the two men are allowed to participate in the Qatari World Cup, they could be able to step back into their old habits without missing a beat. By 2022, Infantino may enact broad reforms of FIFA activity during his tenure but the return of Platini and Blatter would automatically undermine any of those actions. If the Court of Arbitration for Sport moves to completely overturn the ban on football related activities that was upheld this week, then FIFA may never escape its reputation for corruption.

Jillian Sequeira

Jillian Sequeira was a member of the College of William and Mary Class of 2016, with a double major in Government and Italian. When she’s not blogging, she’s photographing graffiti around the world and worshiping at the altar of Elon Musk and all things Tesla. Contact Jillian at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com

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According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, FIFA’s outgoing President Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize. Putin made these comments during an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS that was released on Monday. These comments followed  Blatter and Putin’s gathering in St. Petersburg for the preliminary draw for the 2018 World Cup located in Russia. But Putin’s comments seem a bit odd, as there’s potential evidence that Blatter has been involved in suspicious or illegal activities for years.  

After all, Blatter has had his fair share of attention this past year. Blatter’s 17-year-reign as FIFA president came to an end in June when he announced his resignation. His resignation came six days after the FBI announced it would be investigating some top FIFA officials. The FBI later announced it planned to win the cooperation of other FIFA officials who were under indictment and work its way up the organization.

During the interview, Putin stated

I believe that people like Mr. Blatter, the heads of major international sports federations, deserve special attention and gratitude from public organizations, if anyone should be awarded Nobel Prizes it is these people.

FIFA itself had a rough year as well. Last January, FIFA was hit with a lawsuit by several high profile female players after it announced the Women’s 2015 World Cup would be played on turf instead of grass like Men’s World Cups. In addition to the lawsuit, FIFA has struggled to maintain partners and sponsors after the announcement of the investigation into the potential corruption scandal. Last month, the Nobel Peace Center announced that it would stop working with FIFA on the joint fair play Handshake for Peace after the corruption allegations. After the severance of this relationship, it is hard to believe that the Nobel Peace Center would agree with Putin’s comments. While the Nobel Peace Center doesn’t directly say the relationship was severed because of the allegations, it’s a popular and believable theory.

While Blatter denies any wrongdoing, that’s a bit hard to believe given his abrupt resignation and the indictment of his former colleagues. However, Putin seems to be convinced of Blatter’s innocence stating:

We all know the situation surrounding Mr. Blatter right now, I don’t want to go into details, but I don’t believe a word of him being involved in corruption personally.

I question Putin’s ability to judge someone’s innocence given his recent activities (Ukraine comes to mind), but since Blatter isn’t being personally investigated by authorities, that could be part of Putin’s reasoning.  Currently, Swiss and U.S. authorities are investigating whether the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids were accepted through legal means, but Putin has voiced his concerns about those investigations, particularly the U.S. role.

While Blatter has won more than 70 awards in the futbol world, many members of the soccer community were not sad to see him go. Greg Dyke, the head of the Football Association (FA), and Michael Plantini, the head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) had already been calling for him to step down.

While Blatter is not currently being investigated by U.S. or Swiss authorities, many believe he may be at least somewhat involved in the scandals. Dyke, the head of FA, stated

I don’t believe Mr. Blatter’s decision to step down was an ethical decision. I suspect it is much more to do with the investigations that are going on, clearly something has terrified him.

Although Blatter has many awards and served FIFA for 17 years as president, he is in no way qualified to receive a Nobel Prize. In fact, given that the Nobel Prize is only given in Chemistry, Peace, Physics, Physiology, Literature, and Medicine, Putin should have specified what award Blatter is actually qualified for.

The 2015 Nobel Prize winners have yet to be determined, and Blatter will likely remain in office  until his successor takes over. However, his role in the potential corruption investigation has yet to be determined, creating skepticism around his legacy and role at FIFA, and a huge question mark when examining Putin’s statements.

Jennie Burger

Jennie Burger is a member of the University of Oklahoma Class of 2016 and a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Jennie at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Recently re-elected FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter, known to the world as Swiss Sepp Blatter, announced Tuesday he will step down from his post as president of the international football association’s governing body, following criticism over a corruption scandal.

While 14 of his colleagues were recently indicted on charges of bribery, money laundering, and racketeering, Blatter was left unscathed and re-elected for his fifth consecutive term as FIFA president on Friday, May 29^th. During his reelection speech, Blatter rejoiced in his continued reign with the words,

I thank you, you have accepted me for the next four years. I will be in command of this boat called FIFA.

 

However, Blatter has not escaped blame from the global public over the years, having been labeled a dictator, among other names, and accused of sexism and racism reaching far beyond claims of corrupt laundering practices. According to BBC News, the global citizens’ movement Avaaz was responsible for starting the #BlatterOut campaign, which began trending on Twitter just days before the election. Gary Linekar, the former English footballer and current sports broadcaster, is one of the many to join the campaign against Blatter, who seems to have been at the head of FIFA corruption since 1991.

FIFA members should vote for the good of football, and get rid of a man who’s reigned over a corrupt organisation for too long. #BlatterOut

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 28, 2015

So what on earth was keeping Blatter in power if so much of the world wanted #BlatterOut? The answer, unlike what most commonly believe, is not so much about the power of the dollar—or the supposed tens of millions of dollars involved in the corruption since 1991—as it is the power of a single vote in any given FIFA presidential election. Each of the 209 national member associations that make up FIFA’s Congress receives exactly one equal vote no matter how much land area the nation possesses or how much of the world’s population lives in each nation. According to the Washington Post, this means the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat has as much a say as World Cup powerhouses Brazil or Germany in the election. After totaling the member nations counted in the presidential election, here is the breakdown by regional confederation:

So, what Blatter needed to do to get reelected was not to convince the world that he is not as corrupt as his colleagues, but to cater to the areas of the world that would ensure his victory, and he did. Blatter has made what was once a largely European organization a globalized organization, by bringing what he calls “developmental programs” to underprivileged parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Despite where the money came from to start these programs, in doing so, Blatter spoke for most of the 54 votes of the Confederation of African Football (CAF)—the largest number of votes held by any of the six continental confederations above. Amaju Pinnick, the current president of the Nigerian Football Federation, has expressed that,

Without Blatter we wouldn’t enjoy all the benefits we enjoy today from FIFA. What Blatter pushes is equity, fairness and equality among the nations. We don’t want to experiment.

It was not Blatter’s years of experience or money that got him reelected; it was his ability to systematically accommodate the parts of the world that hold the most votes.

The sole person who opposed Blatter in the election for president was Qatari Mohammed bin Hammam, but he withdrew from the race after suspension by FIFA’s ethics committee due to allegations that he offered financial incentives to Caribbean Football Union members. The response to corruption by England’s Football Association and its chairman David Bernstein was to postpone the election, to instill credibility back into the process, and to appoint an independent external committee to make recommendations about future election processes. Yet, the FA’s proposal was again put up to the votes of 206 member nations equally and the election moved forward without delay.

Are Blatter’s or any other FIFA administrator’s corrupt practices inevitable in this day and age of soccer as yet another means of politics? Or is Blatter’s attempt to globalize the world by bringing soccer and developmental programs to countries outside of Europe a kind of affirmative action policy that permits or even necessitates some corruption behind the scenes? Whether you answer yes or no to these questions, FIFA’s Executive Committee might consider an election reform of proportional representation by member nations in order to assure that the next FIFA president elected is preferred in power by all parts of the world instead of only by the continent with the most votes.

Jenifer Carter

Jenifer Carter is a member of the University of Virginia Class of 2016. Contact Jenifer at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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