#360view: Finger must be pointed at Blatter’s negligence as FIFA leader

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  • In the eye of a storm: Blatter.

    “You cannot find a better ambassador around the world than Jack Austin Warner. What he has done for this country, this region and for football, you cannot put it into figures. His energy and his belief in the good of the game is remarkable. That comes from my heart.”

    That’s Sepp Blatter, discussing Jack Warner in 2008. Warner was one of the 14 men listed on the US Department of Justice’s indictment to face charges of racketeering, money laundering and corruption.

    The allegations, which he has firmly denied, date back to 1991 with Warner president of CONCACAF, the Central and North American Confederation, and a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee since 1983.

    Of course, that’s not to say Blatter – during the 13 years of his presidency he worked alongside him – knew what Warner was allegedly up to seven years ago when he made that impassioned speech.

    Jeffrey Webb is Warner’s successor as CONCACAF president and seen as an up-and-comer, some talking up him up as Blatter’s possible successor in the year 2035, or whenever he stands down.

    Nicolas Leoz, the former president of CONMEBOL for 26 years and member of the executive committee, who once asked ex-English FA chief Lord Triesman for a knighthood in exchange for World Cup votes, is another one-time Blatter-ite.

    The same goes for his CONMEBOL successor Eugenio Figueredo and former CBF president Jose Maria Marin.

    In the past, we’ve had Ricardo Teixeira, Julio Grondona (Blatter’s right-hand man) and Chuck Blazer implicated in bribery and corrupt practices earning them millions. These individuals are all long-term professional colleagues of the FIFA president.

    Many have walked within the corridors of power for as long as the Swiss. There is no suggestion he is involved in any such activities, but at some stage the finger must be pointed at Blatter for sheer negligence in his leadership.

    From 1998 until now, this has all occurred on his watch and at some stage the buck has to stop with him.

    Whether he likes it or not, his presidency will forever be remembered outside the organisation not for the billions of dollars it has generated but for fostering a “culture of corruption”, as described by FBI Director James Comey. You wonder whether he actually cares.

    FIFA and Blatter love nothing more than to bury their heads in the sand and hope it all goes away. “Relaxed” but “not exactly dancing around the office” was director of communications officer Walter de Gregorio assessment of his boss.

    It should have been “horrified” and “deeply troubled”, because with each arrest, with each crushing piece of language uttered by the FBI (the FBI!), the game slides further and further into the mire.

    And yet the man who stands at the head of FIFA, whose motto is “For the Good of the Game”, is unaffected and, comically, on the brink of a fifth term in office.

    The irony of all this is that one of Blatter’s great missions has been to take the game to each corner of the world. The United States is always seen as the final frontier, the land of opportunity with a sports-loving public which as yet has failed to be wooed by the beautiful game – a football goldmine.

    Well, these latest investigations definitely have America’s attention now. But, as has been the case for far too long for FIFA, it’s for all the wrong reasons. 

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