The Company You Keep - Part the Third

This morning the air smelled a little better, the birds were singing, there was a certain air of possibility in the air. I woke to the particularly joyful news that Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini, Jérôme Valcke and Chung Mong-joon have all been "suspended" for 90 days. And like a particularly hefty pair of turds that jam the toilet, this morning many of us are happy to know that Blatter and Platini have (hopefully) been finally flushed.

But before we grab our boots and head out to the park for a kick-around, let's have a look at who will be "stepping into the void" at FIFA - yet another crony from the shadows. Issa Hayatou who has less than a "shining reputation" is next in line for the big seat.

For realsies?

I never thought I would be looking to McDonalds and Coca-Cola as shining examples of doing good, but in all honesty they showed the corporate world something - that as a company, your image suffers when you are connected to a particularly sleazy group of people, and you can use your check book to force change.  

The sad fact is, that unless the entire offices of FIFA are cleared out, this will be an ongoing problem.

This is from a far better write than myself, David Conn writing for the Guardian - 

Criminal cases and investigations are proceeding in the US and Switzerland, including into the World Cups voting process, and Fifa’s own ethics committee is examining more allegations surrounding it, including rule-breaking by vote collusion, which Teixeira recently appeared to admit.

If this toxic, multiple collapse of leaders and reputations, with more to come and no end in sight, was happening to Fifa’s finances, the organisation would long ago have been declared insolvent. A standard process would then take over: professionally qualified outsiders – administrators or receivers – would have been appointed to take legal charge of Fifa, out of the control of its executives. The insolvency practitioners would clear out and liquidate what they find to be unsalvageable, work to reshape the heart of the body which could have a credible future – which in Fifa’s case remains the golden, glittering, lucrative prize of football itself – then hand it back to new custodians with reformed structures in place to enable it to be run properly.

Hublot (yes, you knew I was heading here) - you say you "LOVE FOOTBALL", but I am beginning to seriously doubt that.  If you REALLY LOVE FOOTBALL - walk away from FIFA.  Work with some grass roots organizations to actually, I don't know, PROMOTE football.  Quit all the bullshit with FIFA.  FIFA loves MONEY, FIFA encourages CORRUPTION, FIFA (in its present form) needs to end.  And if you REALLY LOVE FOOTBALL - you will stop financially supporting these people.  Because yes, we are rid of four bad actors, but there will always be another turd jamming up the toilet as long as FIFA is allowed to carry on as they have.  And let's be honest, the main reason why these suspensions were handed out was NOT in response to the outrage of fans.  The main reason was MONEY and the message delivered to them in no uncertain terms that there would be no "Happy Meals" washed down with Budweiser if they didn't cut the bullshit out.

Hublot, If you really LOVE FOOTBALL - show us.