FIFA President, Sepp Blatter from Switzerland- a country which has changed its position in helping protect the loot of despots in and out of government from the third world especially Africa –seems to be the cat with nine lives-at least for now.
Blatter was in the eyes of the storm at the U-23 World Cup in Mexico 1983 where, as the Secretary-General of the Federation he was lashed by the media and anti-corruption agencies especially American reporter, Paul Gartner, who accused then FIFA President, Brazilian Joao Havelange and his son-in-law who was also the Samba country’s football boss, Ricardo Texteira, of “under- the-table” deals including that of the purchase of luxurious buses from the firm owned by Havelange.
Mexico had beaten off the challenge of countries from Europe to host the development programme of the sport that was to produce players for the national teams and the “good of the game” in hosting the tournament. Havelange and Blatter denied the charges all through the tournament and the subsequent senior World Cup which the same country hosted three years later in the cities of Mexico, Leon, Puebla, Guadjalahara.
As if that was not enough, then came the allegations of fraud running into millions of dollars and the searchlight was again directed at Havelange and Blatter by then UEFA President, Lennart Johhansson. This time it involved the ISL but the heads that rolled in the FIFA mud after the axe had dangled were those officials of FIFA who just did the beck and call of the senior bosses in the Executive Committee.
On a larger scale the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under the watch of Catalan, Joan Anthonio Samaranch, was accused of fraud in a bidding process and this consumed members of the Executive Committee including Nigeria’s General Henry Adefope for merely accepting payment for an eye drug to treat his spouse’s cataract.
That process led to the “clean up” of the IOC’s bid process but not until Samaranch had supervised the hosting of the Barcelona ’92 Olympics where his native Language-Catalan-was added to the “official” languages of the IOC winning the approval of the natives who believed-and still believe- that they are the real Spanish and not those who are hanging to governance and Royalty from Madrid.
That is the pull of supremacy battle that continues to propel sports competition within the region where the ETA separatist “rebels” still hold sway and where the players of the soccer club are revered as they continue to remain on the front seat with the latest being the successes of the season where the treble in Europe is being sought, Saturday, as Leonel Messi leads Barca against the Italian giants and “grand Old Lady” Juventus in the European Champions League final.
Interestingly, both sides have claimed the domestic Leagues and FA Cups in both Spain and Italy.
However, UEFA President and former face of the beautiful game-Frenchman Mitchel Platini is leading the campaign to lock Blatter out of the final for the refusal to stand down in the recent bribery scandal that has mirrored the dark side of FIFA and which has seen top Confederation bosses being rounded up by the Swiss Police and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on allegations of bribery in the hosting of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and the UAE.
Platini had headed a European 53- man party that opted to vote in-experienced Prince Bin Hamman against Blatter until Russian President, Vladimir Putin, dispatched Chelsea boss and regional Governor, Roman Abramovic, to break the European vote despite the English Royalty getting involved in the fray.
This time around one name has recurred. That is Trinidad and Tobago’s former FIFA chief, Jack Warner, who headed the U-20 Committee and was involved in the inspection of hosting bid cities. Warner was so much “loved” in Nigeria that he was bequeathed with the Yoruba traditional name –“Omowale”(the home boy has returned) when he led the team to inspect facilities for the hosting of Nigeria 99 after an earlier botched effort due to meningitis virus in the city of Kano.
Warner reputed for running the largest ice-cream factory in the Caribbean country saw and presided over the “nineth wonder –of-the-world as the grass that refused to grow on the pitches of the eight cities suddenly came alive. Warner and USA”s Chuck Blazer took a bow from the FIFA Executive Committee over bribery charges that also became the albatross of Nigeria’s hitherto anticipated successor to Cameroonian Issa Hayatou in the Confederation of African Football, Amos Adamu, who has served out his three-year ban from football.
Adamu may likely return if the Nigeria Football Association led by Amaju Pinnick represents him for the CAF Executive Committee. However, it is instructive that at the Congress in Paris ahead of the France ’98 World cup, Blatter, was the candidate of retiring President Havelange and he defeated Johannson.
Later it was the turn of Hayatou to bite the dust. Now it is Bin Hamman. South America has not presented a challenge but Europe is undaunted in the quest of having Blatter off the scene with this latest “Tsunami” of soccer scandals where South African soccer boss, Danny Jordaan, had admitted the country funded “soccer development” in South America to be awarded the World Cup in 2010.
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