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A Blame Game

Comment: 0 August 11th, 2011 by: admin
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The walls of the ivory tower are shaking, and Sepp Blatter is inside.

Already crucified with past controversy and accusations of corruption, the FIFA president has come under fire with detractors deeming him unfit to lead the international football organization.

Such sentiments are not uncommon, displayed fairly recently by Bayern Munich director and European Club Association chairman Karl Heinze Rummenigge.

In the presence of the press, Rummenigge spit fire on Blatter, declaring him unworthy of heading the global football body. Along with this came a call for the European Club Association – whose members include Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Internazionale, Milan, and Barcelona – to ignite a breakaway revolution against FIFA and UEFA, and form a European Super League.

Accusing FIFA and UEFA of working as a general ‘money machine’, Rummenigge urged for the raising of arms and banners, saying ‘now is the moment to intervene.’

‘I don’t accept any longer that we [should be] guided by people who are not serious and clean,’ Rummenigge had said. ‘I’m ready for a revolution if that’s the only way to come to a solution.’

ALL RILED UP

The Bayern Munich director’s words supposedly stemmed from controversy surrounding the lifetime ban of FIFA presidential candidate Mohammed bin Hamman, who went from perhaps FIFA’s second most powerful, to a man whose career now lies bleeding.

Another was the suspicions of bribery in connection with Qatar being awarded the 2022 World Cup hosting responsibilities.

There is also the addition of a number of international games in the season, and the overall lack of club control over the release of players for international duties. This issue is set to heighten with the supposed plan to change the entire regular season schedules to accommodate a move of the Qatar World Cup to winter to avoid the scorching heat.

The possibility has already allegedly ruffled the feathers of the major European leagues.

As if spurred by Rummenigge’s words, AC Milan director and ECA board member Umberto Gandini hurled himself into the scuffle in support of Rummenigge, saying the players may eventually find themselves choosing between ‘club and country.’

‘We are the ones who invest the money, we are the ones who develop the players. We are the ones who give the players a reason to play,’ he said. ‘Without the clubs, what do you think they are going to do?’

Gandini further warned that frustration within the clubs is reaching new and more aggressive heights due to a common feeling of being ignored.
Echoing Rummenigge’s sentiments, Gandini promised that in the future, ‘the ultimate position could well be a refusal of cooperation or the refusal to accept the imposition of certain rules.’

NOWHERE TO GO

Although Rummenigge stated that no actual plan for a breakaway revolution was in process, the possibilities seemed more substantial, with the approaching 2014 expiry of an agreement that binds European clubs to participate in the UEFA Champions League and release players for international games.

But whatever type of change – revolution or whatever – Rummenigge and Gandini are hoping to take place, their big boy statements will only be taken seriously if their reach can eventually extend beyond the media.

The fact of the matter is they need the actual, publicly-stated support of players. Regardless of how many times Rummenigge and Gandini insist that they are voicing the squads’ concerns, real movement will actually require the players, who are in fact the most affected in the end, actually standing forth and confirming support.

And as of this writing, we are still waiting for Wayne Rooney, or Steven Gerrard, or anybody to simply grab a microphone and say they are in fact standing strong with Rummenigge and Gandini.

Even Fernando Torres would do. Maybe. He may not be big on goals, but perhaps he can somehow deliver a point across.

Whatever spirits were ignited by Rummenigge’s call for secession and Gandini’s ‘voice of the people’ statements were however quickly doused by UEFA president Michel Platini, who guaranteed that clubs who participate in any breakaway action would be ejected from all competitions.

‘What they are suggesting is impossible,’ said Platini about the breakaway threat. ‘If they go ahead, they will be thrown out.’

AN UNTOUCHABLE FORCE

All previous allegations against Blatter have simply disappeared or muffled into oblivion. Anyone who disagrees can simply provide an explanation as to why the man still sits atop the FIFA mountain.

In fact, he has many times stood in front of the angry, critical public and walked away unscathed. Heads around him have rolled; his remains very much intact.

When accusations of dodgy dealings surrounding the FIFA elections were coming in floods, Blatter put on his noblest garb and imploringly addressed the members of the FIFA congress in Zurich.

‘I thought that we were living in a world of fair play, mutual respect and discipline,’ said Blatter, channelling one of broken-hearted idealism. ‘It’s no longer the case because our pyramid of FIFA is suddenly unstable on its basis and there is danger.’

Afterwards, responding to the English and Scottish FAs’ call to delay the election until another candidate can fairly run against Blatter (after opponent Mohamed bin Hammam’s controversy-ridden withdrawal/ejection), an unopposed Blatter declared the elections were to continue.

Blatter is expected to step down this 2015 and in his place, people suspect, will sit Platini. Should that be the case, it would be a situation involving the master handing power to the protégé. In plain words, nothing will change.

A multitude of frustrated lower officials can threaten revolution as many times as they can. Any large organization will, as what is common, involve some degree of corruption. In the case of FIFA, whatever change can occur would possibly involve changing the regime, and that only. The practices will remain, especially if they have proven beneficial to the people in power.

Which, in a way, legitimizes Rummenigge’s point: in the case of the ECA, change can only come from breaking away from the source.

The question they are faced with is who could deal the first determining blow. And if such a move will be enough to shake up what has become the sinister yet enduring foundations of FIFA.

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