What does Blatter's resignation mean?
- By Sumantra Maitra
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 4, 2015
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Joseph Blatter |
Joseph Blatter, the Swiss septuagenarian, head of FIFA, recently invited a dozen journalists in a hurriedly convened press conference in his US$150-million headquarters, and resigned.
The resignation came two days after he won an almost unopposed "election" process in FIFA, where his challenger, a Jordanian Prince, conceded in matter of hours. With this, the reign of Blatter came into an end, after 17 tumultuous and rollercoaster years, during which FIFA saw extreme expansion to over 190 countries, mostly in developing world. It also saw women's football being develop and spread at a glorious rate. FIFA became the largest sports federation in history.
Unfortunately it also saw rampant corruption, nepotism and bribery under his watch. Scandals rocked FIFA like waves lashing into the beach.
In fact, Blatter's untimely resignation, just immediately after his election win, comes on the heels of a U.S-led investigation into FIFA corruption, which saw seven of the highest ranking officials being swooped and arrested by Swiss police, from a posh hotel, at the behest of the Americans. Switzerland has also launched its own investigation into the FIFA decisions about the World Cups in Russia and Qatar. It is to be remembered that both the decisions were met with widespread disbelief, especially the one in Qatar, which has temperatures that can reach 50 degrees Celsius, which renders it impossible to play any outdoor sport. Also, both the Russian and Qatari World Cup nominations have been accused of bribery and inhumane working conditions for workers.
The FIFA arrests were on charges which were founded in the U.S. after a three-year investigation by the FBI, on money laundering and bribery in a case which came straight out of an espionage thriller. Apparently, FIFA members and officials took bribes for their decisions awarding contracts and such using U.S. banks, which brings them under the jurisdiction of trial by U.S. courts. Recent reports confirmed Blatter himself was under FBI investigation.
These developments, although related to sports, are not detached from geo-political and economic consequences. The arrests and the resignation bring football and FIFA strictly into the realm of geo-politics. Let us analyze the geo-political causes first. The timing of the arrest and investigation wouldn't come as a surprise, given the heightened tensions between Russia and the West. It would be na?ve to assume that these arrests are not a case of geo-political one-upmanship. There's a distinct possibility of the World Cups being cancelled in Russia and Qatar if the allegations of bribery are proven true. The rambling in the Russian social media sphere is already accusatory of the United States.
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