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The World Corruption Cup
July 1, 2014The worlds attention is focused on the Football World Cup tournament being played
out in Brazil. Once in every four years, the medias attention worldwide is ritually drawn
to this international tournament which decides the world champions for the sport. This
time however, Uruguays Luis
Chewy Suarezs bite into Italian Giorgio Chiellini shoulder has distracted the public!
Chewy has done this twice before and also used his hands to save a goal in the 2010
World Cup against Ghana and was sin binned! Chewy has been suspended from
football participation for four months and a nine-match international ban was imposed
by FIFA.
The worlds many diverse cultures have over time devised various ways to getting an
object, oval or otherwise, by one means or another, to some sort of goal or target over
the opposition of another team. But one specific version, for which rules were first laid
out in England in the 19th century, seems to have won the popularity battle. Fairly
simple rules and no sophisticated equipment being required have allowed the game to
flourish among the rich and flamboyant, poor villagers and slum dwellers worldwide.
Just two or four markers to mark the goals, something kickable which could pass for a
ball and some indications of perimeters of play has allowed football to be played on
streets, on playgrounds, on dried-up rice or wheat fields, in coconut plantations in
between the coconut trees, on the beaches, on dried-up stream beds and on any other
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space which is available to enthusiasts.
FIFAInternational soccer is managed by an International Federation, a nongovernmental
organisation based in Switzerland. Its acronym is FIFA, for Federation Internationale
de Football Association. FIFA was founded in 1904 in Paris, as a rule making
committee, to ensure that things like punching ones opponent, or handing the ball,
would not be accepted as a legitimate part of the game. Over time FIFA has evolved
into one of the successful and also at the same time disreputable organisations in the
history of sport. FIFA has 209 nations as members through their national federations.
The UNO only has 193!In 2006 FFIFA claimed that 300 million people played soccer. But playing is only one
aspect, millions of people watch the game, argue over performance and results and
also spend money for wages and bets. The English Premier league is broadcast on
radio and television to over 212 territories reaching an estimated 643 million homes.
Half of all mankind on this planet is expected to watch the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
This makes the sports dominance of the world unique. This is all the remarkable, given
that of the four countries larger than Brazil, only one, the USA, qualified to be present
at the World Cup in 2014. China made in 2002 but failed to win any games or score
any goals!
Corruption scandals
FIFA has been plagued by corruption scandals for some time. Under the leadership of
the current head Sepp Blatter and his predecessor Joao Havelange, FIFA has been
accused of financial mismanagement, taking bribes and projecting a level of sexism
and homophobia that seems to come from another century. FIFAs corruption has been
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an open secret for so many years that when new allegations are made, hardly any
outrage is provoked. The attitude seems to be just more of the same.
For example, FIFA is supposed to police match fixing, but a recent
New York Times investigation revealed that only six people of FIFAs total staff of 350
are working on actually investigating allegations of match fixing. It is also supposed to
monitor corruption in football, but it clearly falls short in its responsibility in this regard.
There have been allegations that bribes secured the 2022 World Cup for the Emirate
of Qatar in 2010. How did one of the worlds least suitable football venues succeed in
winning the sports greatest tournament? Revelations published by the Sunday Times
on 1 June, this year of e-mails detailing lavish campaigning by Mohamed bin
Hammam, a disgraced former FIFA Vice-President from Qatar, shocked, but did not
surprise football fans. FIFA is now under pressure to re-run the bidding process.
Analysts expect FIFAs President, the wily Blatter, to resist, although he seems to be
making noises to the effect that a rerun would be a possibility.
Blatter has declared that he intends to recontest FIFAs Presidency for another four-
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year term, his fifth consecutive term. Commentators have stated that even Sepp
Blatter with all his long-standing contacts in world football and back-room negotiating
and political skills will be pushed to survive the barrage of charges of corruption facing
his time in office as FIFA President.
Several members of FIFA Executive Committee, the highest decision-making body,
have been forced out of office in recent years, due to allegations of corruption. Two for
soliciting bribes from undercover reporters before the 2010 World Cup was awarded to
South Africa. Two more, including the Qatari, Hammam, were accused of offering
bribes to football officials from Caribbean countries, to vote for him, when he declared
an interest to replace Blatter as President of FIFA. Hammam was later banned from
football administration for life.
After Blatter fought off Hammams challenge and was re-elected President of FIFA, he
denied that FIFA was in crisis and promised reform.e He appointed an independent
governance committee by a respected Swiss Jurist Mark Pieth, to advise FIFA on
reforms to cleanse it of corruption charges. Though Blatter did not accept all the
proposals of the Pieth Committee, he agreed to an Ethics Committee to be chaired by
Pieth and the appointment of an American lawyer, Michael Garcia to inquire into
allegations of vote rigging an bribery, in FIFA processes including allegations on the
choice of Russia to host footballs World Cup in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
Russia and Qatar
The selection of Russia for the 2018 World Cup and Qatar for the 2022 World Cup has
been widely criticised. Reports have alleged that some FIFA inside sources have
stated that Russian bribes, cash and gifts, given to FIFA Executive Committee
members were enough to secure the 2018 location for Russia, weeks before the
formal selection and announcement was made.
Blatter was widely criticised for speaking to FIFAs Executive Committee on the evils
of media shortly before they voted for the location of the 2018 tournament. This was a
reference to exposes in the London Sunday Times and BBCs Panorama program.
However, two FIFA Executive Committee members were banned from all football-
related activity in November 2010 for allegedly offering to sell their votes to undercovernewspaper reporters.
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There are allegations that Qatar beat the United States for the
2022 finals by paying bribes to delegates for Cameroon and Cote dIvore amounting to
$ 1.5 million. Blatter has not ruled out reopening the 2022 vote if corruption could be
proved.
On Sepp Blatters re-election to FIFAs top position of President in 2011, after aninvestigation by FIFA, Bin Hammam and Warner were suspended from all FIFA
activities. Warner reacted to his suspension by questioning Blatters conduct and
stating that FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke, had told him via e-mail that Qatar
had bought the 2002 World Cup finals. Valcke subsequently tried to explain that what
he had meant was not bribery per se, but that Qatar has used its financial muscle to
lobby for support.
Bin Hammam also wrote to FIFA complaining about the unfair treatment by the FIFA
Ethics Committee and the FIFA administration in suspending him. There are furtherallegations that the Vice President of the Bahamas Football Association was given $
40,000 in cash and the President of the Surinamese Football Association alleged that
he was given $ 40,000 for development projects as an incentive to vote for Bin
Hammam against Blatter.
Allegations of match fixing
In fact, while the current World Cup competition is being played out in Brazil,
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allegations of match fixing have emerged, against the controlling body of Ghanas
football, the Ghana Football Association. The allegation is that the President of that
Association had agreed to Ghanas national team, presently playing in Brazil, to play in
friendly matches after the World Cup is over, which others were willing to fix the result.
A syndicate which would control the bets placed on these matches is alleged to be the
prime mover of the scam. An undercover investigation by the British TV station
Channel 4 and the newspaper the Daily Telegraph has resulted in these allegations
surfacing. The undercover investigation identified two people one a licensed agent of
FIFA and the other a Ghana football club official. The allegations do not touch the
Ghanas national teams World Cup matches. The President of the Ghana Football
Association has denied the allegations and has requested the police to investigate the
allegations.
America
The future of world football, analysts feel, lies in the hands of three nations, which are
not presently big players of the game. One is the USA; though present at Brazil, Team
USA is not big league, but football is certainly a force to be reckoned with internally in
the USA. Increasingly young Americans, both men and women, are playing football or
soccer as it is called, in order that it will not be confused with American football. In fact
the American womens national team is rated higher internationally than the mens
national team.
Although it will take a long time for soccer in the US to challenge the predominant role
of American football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey, in American society, soccer
is on a growth trend. Local teams that once had to play in American football stadiums
today have dedicated soccer grounds. Average attendance at soccer matches is
increasing. The controlling body Major League Soccer (MLS) has around 21
member clubs.
Americas demographic trends work in favour of soccer. The increasing Hispanic
segment of the population loves the game. At present they only make 16.9% of the
population, but between the years 2000 and 2010 the number of Hispanics in the USA
grew by 43%. The current US national team is ranked 14th in the world. The USA vs.Portugal match in Brazil was watched by 24.7 million. FIFA says that more tickets were
allocated for the 2014 finals to the US than any other country except the host Brazil.
Americans have bought more tickets than the next three highest ticket buying
countries-Argentina, Germany and England. The USA is clearly headed for footballs
big league, in the future.
India
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The second nation which is destined to play a big role in international football in the
future is India. True, the dominance of cricket is currently overwhelming. Football
cannot, just yet, match crickets role in the Bollywood film Lagaan, in which a team of
Indian villagers take on and defeat a team of British Raj civil servants in a cricket
match to win relief from oppressive taxes imposed by the colonial government! But
footballs history in India goes back a long time.
In 1911 a local club in Calcutta, Mohun Bagan, beat a team from the British Armys
East Yorkshire Regiment in the final of the All India tournament. This was an iconic
moment of Indias campaign to rid itself of British imperialism. The controlling body in
India the All India Football Federation was founded in 1937. The Indian national
team won the Asian Games gold medal for football in 1951 and 1962. In the 1956
Olympic Games the Indian team just missed the Bronze medal, by coming fourth; the
best-ever finish by an Asian country.
Though cricket and tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL) dominate Indian
sport, there is a generational shift taking place in India, which seems to favour football.
In fact an IPL type clone for football in India is being floated called the Indian Super
League (ISL). Its promoters claim that cricket was the game of the fathers; football is
the game of the sons. In fact the IPL was set up for cricket due to worries that five-day
Cricket Test matches were turning off young people, who are in an instant noodle and
instant gratification mode.
The ISL is supported by the huge Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries and IMG,
the global sports management firm. The IPL will kick off in September this year and
has attracted investors like present crickets IPL investor, owner of the Kolkata Knight
Riders multimillionaire actor Shah Rukh Khan. Indias cricketing icon Sachin
Tendulkar has also taken a stake in one of the ISL football teams. A great deal has to
be done for football infrastructure in India. It is a positive sign that FIFA has chosen
India as the location for the 2017 under 17 World Cup tournament. As host, the Indian
team will participate.
The All India Football Federation has inaugurated four football academies to develop
young talent in various parts of the country. In Indias case, however, one unfortunateanalogy India shares with FIFA and football is the allegations of corruption in Indian
Cricket and the IPL. Allegations of match fixing are rampant in the media, with the
Indian Police and the Judiciary holding investigations.
The Board of Control of Cricket in India, one of the most powerful national cricket
associations, is mired in controversy, with politicians and cricket bureaucrats often
hauled up before the Indian Supreme Court. In fact the Supreme Court recently
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removed the IPL management team and asked respected former Indian international
cricketer Sunil Gavaskar to run the 2014 tournament! So whether Indias emergence
as a football power house will have any positive effect on FIFAs corruption is, to say
the least, questionable!
China
China is the third potential country which will have an effect on international football in
the future. The Middle Kingdom, with its 3,000-year history, claims to have invented
football. In fact there existed a somewhat formalised way of kicking a ball around the
fields of the Empire around 2,000 years ago. But although Mao Zedong was the goal
keeper in his school football team, under the Communist Party of China, society was
isolated from the international ramifications of the sport.
Even after the Chinese Spring of Deng Xiaoping, also a football fan, who famously
declared that to get rich is beautiful, football was still stifled; even gatherings of 10 or
more people needed official approval of the Communist party.
At present China is not a big player in football. But the Chinese people within China
and the Chinese diaspora are great watchers of the game and even more, bet on the
result. In fact some of the biggest match fixing and gambling and betting cartels
worldwide operate out of Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
At the time of writing, a dispute between two Chinas biggest internet companies has
paralysed online betting on Brazil 2014. In 2010 it is estimated that over 300 million
people in China watched the World Cup matches. Big European clubs like, Spains
Barcelona and Britains Manchester United make pre-season tours to promote their
franchise in China.
Presently professional football in China is largely based on foreign stars that are hired
by Chinese clubs for the seasons tournaments. Big Chinese business houses have
begun investing money in clubs. For example the Evergrande Real Estate Group
sponsors the Guangzhou Evergrande club. The club has won Chinas Super League
football tournament three years in a row. In 2013 Guangzhou Evergrande won the
Asian Champions League, the first Chinese club to do so. The club is getting more
sponsors. This year Alibaba, Chinas leading internet company, has said that it will buy50% of the club.
Analysts point out that to gain more in football terms China needs to spends less
money on foreign coaches and players for its big name corporate-sponsored clubs
and invest more in improving Chinas emerging young players. Evergrande has
already moved in this direction. A humongous football academy has been built by the
company in the southern Chinese city of Guangdong, with 2,300 students and 50
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football pitches. It is Chinas largest such institution and of a world class standard. At
the opening of the school, Evergrandes billionaire Chairman Xu Jiayin said: Our long-
term strategy is to use teenagers to turn Evergrande into a team of only domestic
players in eight to 10 years, making them stars in China, Asia and the world.
Brazil 2014
What the long term effect the emergence of the USA, India and China will have on
international football administration is presently a matter of conjecture. As of now, the
precedent set by Indias cricket maladministration and Chinas betting shenanigans are
not encouraging. But it may result in opening up of a process dominated by a corrupt
cartel from among European, African, South American and Caribbean National
Associations, which hopefully will result in more transparency.
Until then, Brazil 2014 is currently the focus of football fans. One hopes and wishes
that a trouble-free tournament, free of allegations of corruption and more biting, will
decide who stands on the peak of the beautiful game.
(The writer is a lawyer, who has over 30 years of experience as a CEO in both State
and private sectors. He retired from the office of Secretary, Ministry of Finance and
currently is the Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Business Development Centre.)