On any other day, it would have just made headlines in the sports pages, FIFA’s annual general meeting to elect the president of the world’s most popular sport. Then the script changed dramatically, and just ahead of the election, 14 people including executive members of the sporting body were picked up in an early morning raid in Zurich in what is being called one of the biggest scandals in international sport. Sepp Blatter, the man who has ruled the sport for seventeen years, has not been seen publicly since then but voting will go ahead. It is believed despite the scandal, he will be re-elected for another four year term this weekend. FIFA has been plagued with allegations of fraud for several years now, especially over the rights given to Qatar to host the World Cup in 2022. So, if you follow football closely and not just the matches, then these allegations are nothing new. It wasn’t exactly goodwill that made FIFA decide to send the players to play in one of the hottest places in the world, it wasn’t even that Qatar was a good team. Maybe one bizarre report that I read was actually true, that the FIFA officials were in for a shock themselves when they went to visit Qatar after the announcement and realised it was actually in the middle of the desert. Sepp Blatter, may be embattled but he is adamant and will stand for another term as the FIFA President on Friday. And if he still needs lessons on how to bulldoze his way through controversy, he can do a quick read up on the life and times of a certain N. Srinivasan. The former President of BCCI and now the Chairman of the International Cricket Council has shown how easy it is to manipulate and make a mockery of all rules and allegations. He is being investigated in several scams, including match fixing during IPL. His son- in- law who was the top official of the Chennai Super Kings was arrested for his role in betting during the games. In March last year, Srinivasan was ordered by the Supreme Court to resign from BCCI to let the investigations continue in a fair manner. He was the owner of IPL franchise Chennai Superkings through his India Cements company while also being the BCCI chief. The fact that there was a conflict of interest didn’t bother him. In fact, he changed the IPL regulations to allow an administrator to have direct or indirect links with BCCI related matches. There have been reports of Srinivasan using crores of BCCI money to hire an agency to spy on certain BCCI officials. Such was Srinivasan’s determination to cling to power that the apex court said it was ‘nauseating’ that he was still in office. Once Barred, Srinivasan found another way to stay relevant and more importantly stay powerful. He got elected as chairman of the International Cricket Council. An estimated one billion people watched the India-Pakistan match at this year’s world cup. That number could be exaggerated, but only slightly. 14 teams played the tournament earlier this year and where there is Srinivasan, can controversy be far behind? He decided that he was going to give the trophy to the winning team. Nevermind that it wasn’t his to give. But when has anything that trivial stopped him. Srinivasan sidelined the ICC President Mustafa Kamal, breached the ICC constitution and did what he always does, take over. Cricket is on a much smaller footing as compared to the popularity of football. FIFA world cup is the biggest single event, sporting competition. The 208 member association had 32 teams playing in the 2014 world cup. An estimated billion people watched the final between Germany and Argentina. Sepp Blatter has presided over four world cup tournaments and until the Swiss authorities arrested the officials including FIFA’s Vice- President, he was comfortably set for a fifth term. He probably still is. He has just one opponent, a Prince from Jordan. As with Srinivasan, all those in his path even a high profile former player like Luis Figo expectedly fell by the way side. Reminds one of how sports in India has no place for its former players either. Blatter has reigned through times where bribes and fraud were speculated to be as much a part of the game as have been the rumours of players involvement in match fixing during IPL. Envelopes filled with cash were the talk of town when Blatter stood for his first election. When you think of Qatar, it is natural to think bigger, more grand. It is also Qatar that many suspect could have triggered off the investigations especially by a country like the United States that isn’t even half as passionate about the sport as say Cameroon or Ivory Coast. Some say suspicions of behind the scene activities during their failed bid for the 2022 World Cup could be one of the reasons. But for now, unless something more dramatic happens, Blatter will be re-elected, and fairly easily. Already officials are keeping him away from the blame. But the pressure is on him. Top sponsors of the game have warned that unless it is cleaned up, they will re-think their association. Those indicted, are already looking at time in jail. But in India investigations take forever. With slight changes, the script though remains the same. If FIFA is powerful, BCCI is no less. Infact, it is an entity on to itself with no accountability. A PIL has been filed in the Bombay High Court alleging that rules and regulations of the Board have been tampered with for personal gains. BCCI does not have to make its balance sheet public. There must be a reason why an almost 80 year old man and a 70 year old man, want to cling on to their seats. Love for the game, can only take you that far.
