Caricatures of Critique: Is FIFA Rotten to the Core?

Link back to FIFA Institutional Politics

Written in 2013 by Maggie Lin

Updated and edited in 2015 by Thamina Stoll

Introduction

There are the comic strips that you read out of the Sunday newspaper as a kid, and then there are the comic strips laden with satirical critiques of current events, politics, and agencies. The latter more likely produces awkward chuckles rather than hearty laughter because they point to underlying societal problems, which makes people uneasy. While satire does exaggerate situations, there is always some truth behind them.

That brings us to FIFA, the premier governing body of international football. Since football is the most popular sport in the world, FIFA basically runs the world. Countries suspend their laws for FIFA, as South Africa did for the 2010 World Cup [1]; and FIFA sponsored matches have both incited and stopped wars, as in the cases of The Soccer War between Honduras and El Salvador after 1969 World Cup qualifiers [2] and the ceasefire between warring parties in the First Ivorian Civil War after the Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup [3].

http://futebolnacabeca.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/
cartoon-fifa.jpg

Having been founded in 1904 [4], FIFA is younger than many nations, and yet is arguably one of the most influential institutions in the entire world. With great power comes great responsibility. However over the years, FIFA has been marred by valid accusations ranging from corruption and money laundering to media suppression and election rigging. Critics have called out FIFA and its current President Sepp Blatter an immeasurable number of times on these controversies, but as a governing body without official subjects, FIFA needs to answer to no one. However, in December 2014, FIFA finally bowed to public pressure and agreed to release a full World Cup corruption report [5] after the international institution had been accused of corruption [6] surrounding the bids for the 2018 and 2022 Football World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

In its mission statement [7], FIFA describes itself in a good light, but the following satirical comic strips do not give that impression. Instead, they pinpoint major issues in the way FIFA is run and how it runs football. Does that mean FIFA is rotten to the core?

Bribery Allegations

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/69237

Accusations of corruption among FIFA officials have circulated for decades. Now, they are being confirmed as court systems formally indict high-ranking officials of FIFA with fraud, bribery, or embezzlement. Earlier in 2013, once a Swiss court ruled that João Havelange, FIFA’s president from 1974 to 1998, took millions of kickback dollars from FIFA’s financial partners [8], he resigned from his position as FIFA’s honorary president [9]. At least 5 members on the ruling executive committee that decided the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were also convicted of bribery [8]. More specifics about key players in FIFA’s financial mismanagement can be found in The Dark Side of FIFA: Selected controversies and the future of accountability in the organization [10].

Piling onto the accusations, former players who are no longer affiliated with FIFA have spoken out against current FIFA president Sepp Blatter and other high-ranking officials as well. In 2013, Brazilian congressman and former soccer player Romario called Blatter “a thief” and secretary general Jerome Valcke “a blackmailer” [11]. For a more in-depth look into corruption within FIFA, consider viewing Part 1 and Part 2 of the documentary FIFA’s Dirty Secrets, created by investigative reporter Andrew Jennings with BBC Panorama.

http://www.truthdig.com/images/cartoonuploads/fifa_500.jpg

The first comic depicts Blatter as the source of bribes, who “cleans up” his act by paying others off with a trail of money. Interestingly enough, Blatter has yet to be indicted with bribery charges. Is it really possible that Blatter, who served as Havelange’s assistant from 1974 until 1998 [8], was completely oblivious to the under-the-table dealings, and never once took part? That’s difficult to believe, and many have been calling for Blatter to simply step down [12]. The second comic shows Blatter as a player ignorantly trying to play in a field of corruption, which implies he thinks he can ignore the problem, but in reality it will be his own downfall.

Russia 2018 & Qatar 2022

The 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been marred by scandal since the beginning. People were shocked when they were chosen over bids such as England, Spain, Portugal, and the United States. Former Belgian star Marc Wilmots described the results as “Russia is a political choice and Qatar is an economic choice” [13].

Many have agreed with Wilmots and believe that both World Cups were bought. According to BBC’s Panorama, prior to the 2018 and 2022 voting, discoveries had already been made that four members on the voting committee had taken bribes in the 1990s [14]. It would not be too far of a stretch to believe that they could have been bribed again. Two members were also suspended when The Sunday Times exposed them for trying to sell their votes [15]. The first comic below touts that FIFA only chose countries with governments that are equivalently undemocratic and corrupt, which reiterates the corruption within FIFA itself.

http://www.zapiro.com/Cartoons/m_101207tt.jpg

Immediate controversies besides the corruption of FIFA also included problems with logistics of the actual World Cup itself. FIFA basically chose the “riskiest” host nations out of all the bids, according to FIFA’s own inspection team [16]. Qatar is a tiny country and has summertime temperatures regularly reaching 120 degrees. FIFA has posed the possibility of moving the 2022 World Cup to the winter as a solution, but that would further disrupt TV, club, and players’ schedules that threaten loss of profits, lawsuits, and injury [17].

To top it off, recent controversies in both Russia and Qatar have brought up major concerns over the well-being and rights of both workers and citizens of both nations. Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, but anti-gay laws have tainted the Olympics’ credibility of equality [18], and lead many to wonder if this is a prelude to the 2018 World Cup. Qatar also has anti-gay laws, but considering that FIFA has the power to temporarily override national laws during World Cup (as previously mentioned in the case of 2010 South Africa), FIFA could force Russia and Qatar to temporarily suspend of the anti-gay laws during the World Cups [19]. While that does not create any permanent solutions, it is still something to consider.

http://www.nicolasvadot.com/en/images/cartoons/
dessins_presse/Vif_Express/political_cartoons/2013/112_Qatar.jpg

Additionally, accounts of horrific working conditions and forced labor leading to death in Qatar [20] has angered many who have outright suggested the possibility of moving the 2022 World Cup to the United States [21]. Similarly in 2010, South African workers went on strike over terribly long hours and minimal pay [10]. Unfortunately, the above comic is a social commentary of the awful irony that Qatari laborers, many whom do not have the ability to leave the country, are working in the deadly heat to build an air-conditioned stadium for FIFA. Although it is somewhat late for the 2018 World Cup to be moved, there is still plenty of time for the 2022 World Cup. In addition, if it were to be moved to the United States, the infrastructure is already in place, so the three-year delay would not be much of a concern. However, knowing FIFA’s history, they will likely come up with some excuse or another and delay the decision until it is too late to move the 2022 World Cup from Qatar.

Election Rigging

Journalist and filmmaker Andrew Jennings, author of “Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals”, accuses the confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA) and FIFA of being in cahoots together. According to Jennings, FIFA President Sepp Blatter is an important key to all of these intrigues: “They keep Blatter in power so that they can get rich. They give him the vote. It does make the Mafia look quite amateur… They are the Enrons of sport in that respect” [22].

In 2011, Sepp Blatter was reelected the president of FIFA for his fourth term with an overwhelming 186 of the 203 votes, but let’s not forget that he ran unopposed [23]. How did this happen? As if on queue, his rival Mohamed Bin Hammam had stepped down after being suspended over bribery allegations [23]. At that point it was a one-man show. Blatter knew that he just needed to hold the vote, and the election would be his.

http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/.a/
6a00d8341d417153ef014e88cff0a2970d-800wi

England soccer officials tried to postpone the vote since Blatter would obviously win, but that idea was killed with a vote of 172 to 17 [24]. So, the vote went forward and shockingly enough, Blatter won. This is clearly depicted in the comic above as Blatter, after receiving bribes in the envelope, re-elects himself since he is the only one present. What is bizarre about voting is that even if nations are dissatisfied with Blatter, they will still vote for him if he gives them what they want. The structure and policies of FIFA are quite complex [25], but the idea is that every nation has one vote. Many believe that votes are bought based on how FIFA treats certain regions. For example, Andrew Jennings believes that FIFA kept the 2010 World Cup in South Africa so that Blatter could be guaranteed the African votes [22].

http://www.soccerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/
SeppBlatter%20cartoon-thumb-400×292-1847.jpg

Blatter and FIFA’s role in vote-buying is hazy at best. However, people are catching on. Lennart Johansson, a previous opponent of Blatter, publicly requested investigations into vote-buying during the 1998 election, in which Blatter beat Johansson 111 to 80 [27]. Other people continue urging an in-depth internal investigation into the 2011 elections to determine whether Blatter exploited his position [23], but until anything is set in stone, Blatter will continue calling the shots at least until May 29, 2015 when the election for the presidency is held at FIFA’s congress in Zurich. Besides Blatter (Switzerland), the candidates admitted and declared are HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (Jordan), Luís Figo (Portugal) and Michael van Praag (The Netherlands) [28]. However, nobody would be surprised if Blatter ascended the shiny throne for the fifth time. His global prevalence is reflected in the comic immediately above, as Blatter is compared to historical rulers who could not, in their reigns, dominate the entire world the way that Blatter currently does.

Media Suppression

In the midst of everything, FIFA has pulled its fair share of Big Brother moments in attempts at silencing its critics. The public has responded angrily to their restrictions, which has led FIFA to back down a bit. However with every World Cup, FIFA tries to limit the freedom of journalists. And each time it tries, FIFA only attracts negative attention towards itself.

http://i2.wp.com/pitchinvasion.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/
2010/02/freedom-press.jpg?resize=300%2C223

During the week of World Press Freedom Day in 2006, investigative reporter Andrew Jennings published his book Foul!: The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals, which FIFA had tried to ban from publication for months [29]. FIFA called the book “false and libelous” in a press release, and somehow succeeded in banning the book from sale in Switzerland [29]. FIFA’s attempts at hushing critique is symbolically expressed in the comic above with man’s eyes and mouth covered, so that he can neither see nor speak about what is happening around him.

FIFA supposedly supports freedom of press, but prior to the 2006 World Cup, the organization placed restrictions on digital publication of photographs during the World Cup and had a clause stating that news organizations “may not bring FIFA into disrepute” [30]. The comic below represents FIFA’s media restrictions crushing the world’s freedom of press. For the most part, journalists ignored this during 2006. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) finally challenged and convinced FIFA to write in a new clause relating to press freedom in 2009 [30]. If it were not for WAN pressuring FIFA into a corner, it is doubtful that FIFA would have done anything.

http://www.zapiro.com/Cartoons/m_100506mg.jpg

Before the 2010 World Cup, South African journalists questioned FIFA’s press accreditation rules, which included that newspapers could not publish photographs or videos relating to events on their websites and that newspapers could not be sold within a radius of 800 meters around stadiums [30].

Conclusion

Things are not looking so great for FIFA. Not that it ever has outside of its bank account. Despite the allegations and controversy, FIFA is still the major ruling body of international football and the FIFA World Cup is still one of the most anticipated events in the world. Regardless of everything, people continue to attend FIFA-sponsored events and FIFA will continue to make millions off its agreements with its sponsors.

http://www.cartoonmovement.com/depot/cartoons/
2011/05/38KFGM2uQqmdbUkHKwrW9A.jpeg

FIFA does have something to worry about, though. If they are not careful, their legacy can be irreversibly tarnished. With the advent of the internet and social media, it is becoming increasingly difficult for FIFA to hide behind its false do-good publicity stunts [31]. People are becoming more and more vocal about the obvious corruption in FIFA, and there is nothing that FIFA can do to quiet them.

The thing is, FIFA does have the ability to be an actual force in change. It deals with more countries than the United Nations [32], and these countries are often more responsive to FIFA’s policy changes than to the U.N.’s. However, due to the track record of current FIFA officials, it seems that the only way things will change is with the inauguration of a new crop of officials.

How to cite this article: “Caricatures of Critique: Is FIFA Rotten to the Core?,” Written by Maggie Lin (2013), World Cup 2014, Soccer Politics Blog, http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (date)).

References

[1] Hyde, Marina. “World Cup 2010: Fans, robbers and a marketing stunt face justice, Fifa style.” The Guardian. N.p., 20 June 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[2] Lindsey Barrett, Colby Leachman, Claire Lockerby, Steven McMullen, Matthew Schorr, Yuriy Veytskin, “The Soccer War,” at Soccer Politics Pages, http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[3] Hayes, Alex. “Didier Drogba brings peace to the Ivory Coast.” The Telegraph. N.p., 8 Aug. 2007. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[4] “FIFA Presidents.” FIFA. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[5] Rumsby, Ben. “Fifa agrees to release its full World Cup corruption report”. The Telegraph, N.p., Dec. 19, 2014. Web. March 3, 2015.

[6] Associated Press. “Michael Garcia sends World Cup report to FIFA”. USA Today, N.p. Sept. 5, 2014. Web. March 3, 2015.

[7] “FIFA Brand – Our commitment.” FIFA. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[8] Hughes, Rob. “One by One, Those Atop FIFA Are Falling.” The New York Times. N.p., 7 May 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[9] Conway, Richard. “Joao Havelange, Fifa’s honorary president, resigns over bribes.” BBC. N.p., 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[10] Malliris, Christina. “The Dark Side of FIFA: Selected controversies and the future of accountability in the organization,” at Soccer Politics Pages, http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 8, 2013)).

[11] “Former Brazil star Romario: ‘FIFA is corrupt.'” Sports Illustrated. N.p., 16 Oct. 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[12] “Leading article: The tarnished reputation of world football governance.” The Independent. N.p., 1 June 2011. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[13] “Russia & Qatar will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.” BBC. N.p., 2 Dec. 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[14] “Panorama: Three Fifa World Cup officials took bribes.” BBC. N.p., 29 Nov. 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[15] Dubois, Laurent. “To Russia and Qatar We Go…,” at Soccer Politics Pages, 3 Dec. 2010. http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[16] Seif, Basil. “Qatar 2022 could be FIFA’s biggest mistake ever,” at Soccer Politics Pages, 8 Oct. 2013. http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[17] Barrett, Lindsey. “Too Darn Hot,” at Soccer Politics Pages, 12 Sept. 2013. http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[18] Worden, Minky. “Russia’s anti-gay laws threaten the Olympics’ character.” The Washington Post. N.p., 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[19] Waldron, Travis. “Can FIFA ‘Suspend’ Russian And Qatari Anti-Gay Laws During Their World Cups?” Think Progress. N.p., 14 June 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[20] Sant’Albano, Ale Barel Di. “Qatar’s World Cup turning out to be a disaster,” at Soccer Politics Pages, 29 Sept. 2013. http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[21] Carp, Daniel. “If the USA hosted the 2022 World Cup…” at Soccer Politics Pages, 24 Oct. 2013. http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[22] Amoia, Steve. “Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals at FIFA.” Soccer Lens. N.p., 22 Oct. 2008. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[23] “Football: Blatter survives FIFA vote.” Daily Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[24] Branch, John, and Jeré Longman. “Soccer Leader Wins Vote, Immune to Scandal.” The New York Times. N.p., 1 June 2011. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[25] Balser, Brittney. “The Structure and Policies of FIFA,” at Soccer Politics Pages. http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[26] Amoia, Steve. “The Future of FIFA.” Soccer Lens. N.p., 23 Oct. 2008. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[27] “Sepp Blatter’s former opponent seeks inquiry into vote-buying claims.” The Guardian. N.p., 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[28] FIFA, “Ad-hoc Electoral Committee admits all four candidates for the presidential election”, FIFA.com, N.p. Feb. 9, 2015, Web. March 3, 2015.

[29] Sparre, Kirsten. “FIFA gets partial ban on sale of new book by Jennings.” Play The Game. N.p., 9 May 2006. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[30] Menary, Steve. “South African media concerned over FIFA press accreditation rules.” Play The Game. N.p., 29 Jan. 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

[31] Moyles, Caitlin. “FIFA’s Humanitarian Aid,” at Soccer Politics Pages. http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp (accessed on (Dec. 7, 2013)).

[32] “Fifa: Six facts about world football’s governing body.” BBC. N.p., 1 June 2011. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.