By Dan Sampayo
Sepp Blatter has, since his tenure began in 1998, constantly been in the media spotlight. From financial mismanagement, to lurid slurs on women’s football and most recently his ludicrous claims that racism can be solved with a handshake, Blatter has somehow remained in his position as the most influential and important man in football.
After a week of relentless criticism that has been levelled at the 75 year old, Blatter has now claimed that the case is over, closed, no more – but somehow he’s still the President of Fifa.
The Blatter scandal has averted gaze from another possibly damaging decision that has been made by FIFA’s ally UEFA, headed by the equally infuriating Michel Platini, this week, with the unveiling of their financial fair play rules.
Undoubtedly a great footballer, Platini is not as an astute businessmen as midfielder, and yet he, like Blatter, has found himself in a position of unequivocal power in football.
Underneath the leadership of these two, who maintain a frosty relationship that plays host to constant jibes and swipes, football has become ravaged by debt, bloated with arrogance and a servant to the most powerful clubs, whilst mercilessly ignoring the lesser ones.
And with the financial fair play rules which look set to come into existence in the very near future, football seems destined to become frozen the way it is, with the bigger clubs staying big, and the smaller clubs staying small.
In a week that our very own Sam Thompson gave an emotional ode to Ipswich’s achievement in cracking European football, the fair play rules seem set to end something like this ever happening again.
A constant throughout the misdemeanours of both Platini and Blatter has been the English FA’s stoic silence, as if it seems in awe of these ‘great’ leaders of our game.
The greatest defiance the FA has shown in recent times has been to abstain from voting in the latest FIFA elections, which saw Blatter as the only candidate. Although new leader of the FA David Bernstein has yet had the opportunity to impose himself; it seems as if he will follow in the same vein that has become the norm in football throughout the world.
Clumsy in its dealing with the ongoing race row involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand, and foolish when pricing out the average England football fan in the game against Sweden, Bernstein has a long way to go to convince football supporters that his appointment will herald a new, strong FA.
Unfortunately, it seems football will remain under the dictatorship of Blatter, supported by UEFA and sadly, the FA.
There must be transparency within FIFA and more rigorous tests must be introduced to decide who is truly fit to head footballs governing body, because at the moment, all of footballs virtues and heart is being ripped apart from its core by senile, stupid people.
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