It doesn’t really matter at this point who is running FIFA, as it will remain one of the most corrupt and unethical organizations out there.
Sepp Blatter, who is still amazingly the current president, is under a three-month suspension for bribery. He is turning his focus towards the United States this time, with claims that US FIFA sponsors (Coke, Visa, McDonald’s, Budweiser among others) are the ones responsible for the attempt to impeach him.
While Blatter may not be wrong, there is definitely reason behind these corporations’ doings. First of all, Blatter had already decided to place the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and the US, respectively, before voting even took place!
These plans fell through though, because FIFA received bribes from Qatar that awarded the 2022 World Cup to the nation of Qatar. Qatar is a rapidly developing nation with a large market, but the World Cup takes place during the summer, which in Qatar consists of days that top 104 degrees.
Not only is the temperature a bad reason for Qatar to be holding the World Cup, but it has come out that Qatar is creating harsh conditions for the workers who are building much of the infrastructure that will be needed for the World Cup. As many as 1800 migrant workers (not just people working on the World Cup) were reported to have died between 2010–2013 in Qatar.
One of the worst things is the kafala, which is a restriction on foreign workers—who make a up almost 90 percent of the World Cup workforce—that doesn’t allow them to leave the country without permission. In addition, some report that some workers are not being given their paychecks, leading others to argue that this is akin to modern slavery.
Disregarding a country’s characteristics when awarding the World Cup is a fairly common occurrence for FIFA. The two most recent hosts, Brazil and South Africa, have regretted hosting the event due to capacity issues. FIFA requires multiple stadiums to be built; many of which are rarely used after the World Cup is over. With all of these issues, hosting a World Cup can negatively affect a country, especially economically.
Although Blatter has not yet stepped down, many predict that he will be gone soon. Still, corruption throughout this organization runs so deep that replacing Blatter will not make much of a change.
Replacement candidates are people like FIFA Vice President Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, UEFA’s Michel Platini, France’s Jerome Champagne and South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale. Even though they sound like a new age rap squad, most of them have ties to FIFA’s corruption history and will continue to make everyone uncomfortable when they are enjoying soccer.
