Everybody wants to paint Sepp Blatter as the bad guy. Despite the surging success of the last few World Cups, FIFA gets a bad rap. Why? Well, the organization certainly has plenty of “votes” and “committees” for important things. But sometimes function trumps form. Sometimes power exceeds and manipulates alleged checks & balances.
But Sepp is no dictator. He is just a kleptocratic despot. And FIFA is the country he rules with a not-so-hidden hand.
Allow me to make my case.
First, a dictator rises to power with a bloody coup. A despot rises to power via sham democratic tactics. Corruption never starts with a single individual. We can all look fondly back on the reign of Joao Havelange, who started the mutual backscratching love with International Sports & Leisure, a Swiss marketing firm that backed Sports Federation candidates and also, according to a Swiss investigation, bribed FIFA for lucrative contracts. For Sepp’s “candidacy” in 1998, he faced Lennart Johansson, a Swede of considerable integrity. The problem? Joao wanted to keep the perks of president.
Blatter had problems acquiring a nomination, but eventually enlisted Michel Platini to his “election team” and the French duly nominated him. Behind the scenes, Joao and Mohamed Bin Hamman of Qattar cut deals with African federations. And the election was won. At Blatter’s press conference, a reporter asked him about the Gulf funding allegations. Blatter merely replied “The match is over.” See? No dead bodies, just briefcases of cash. Very kleptocratic.
Second, dictators don’t hide corruption because they scare banks, whereas despots make half-ass attempts at sham accounting practices. A few examples from yesteryear. Sepp Blatter had as his right hand man Mr. Zen Ruffinen. But Zen was aghast at FIFA’s finances and created the infamous “Zen-Ruffinen dossier.” Based on that dossier, 11 members of the FIFA executive committee filed a criminal complaint against Sepp. Granted, the Swiss prosecutors dropped the charges. But Sepp ran Zen Ruffinen out of town, comparing him to Brutus, and then appointed Julio Grondona to take his place.
In the real world, FIFA, as a billion-dollar business, would open up the books to a review by a respectable accounting firm like Arthur Anderson, the business equivalent of a doctor’s check-up? But not in today’s world. FIFA only has an Internal Audit Committee. Guess who heads it? Franco Carraro, the Italian made famous for his role in the calciopoli scandal!
FIFA also is doing its own internal investigation of the recent World Cup-for-votes scandal. I predict we will only see a conclusion of innocence, if anything. Or it will be suspended. Or get placed right next to that Zen-Ruffinen dossier. Regardless, the half-hearted investigations reek of new rich kleptocratic despot. Fidel Castro would never stoop to such a low level as an “internal investigation.”
Third, dictators compel love and allegiance through force, whereas despots buy loyalty. FIFA displays all the graft emblematic of sham democracies. The Ortegas and Chavezes half-embrace democracy & capitalism, turning theoretical socialist policies into amiguismo of the most despicable degree. An example from FIFA. Somalia has no functioning government, but they still got over $1 million dollars from FIFA in 2008. FIFA also provided Somalia a high level refereeing course in 2010. Somalia, not surprisingly, nominated Sepp for President this year. But a true dictator needs no nomination – he nominates himself or he gets the army on board. Sepp has to splash the cash to game the system. Very despot of him. Not dictatorial.
Fourth, dictators rise and fall, whereas a despot’s reign circles and circles in dizzying fashion, like a carousel on crack. Despite the allegations of bribery in his 98 election and the accusation of financial mismanagement by his former protege, graft lined the 2018-2022 selection process. Concrete examples: two African nations got busted by the English press for offering to sell their votes.
Odd circumstances: the WSJ reported that Qattar made a suspicious payment to the Argentine Football Association before the vote. Grondona kinda responded to the accusation, but ignored the substance & only laughed at the prospect the AFA was in serious debt. Newsflash – the AFA was in serious debt – they had to postpone a season less than a year prior!
Also, many suspected a Spain/Portugal deal with Qattar to “throw the game.” Pep Guardiola of FC Barcelona inexplicably became a spokesperson for Qattar, not his home country. Also, shortly after the vote, a Qattar foundation became a sponsor for FC Barcelona. And, ho hum, in May of that year FC Barcelona had to take out a short term loan to make payroll. Can you say d-e-b-t? And the Swiss started a criminal investigation into FIFA. Have we seen that before?
Fifth, a dictator will crush or scare off even a major company. A despot will take a hiding. FIFA tried to screw over Mastercard. There was just one problem: the business dealings concerned a relatively impartial and professional judicial venue – the United States of America. Obviously, one would see a federal judge favoring the US business. However, this pales in comparison to the privacy and corruption that line court rooms the world over. Fittingly, one of the key legal issues was “good faith.” The Judge ruled in favor of Mastercard, finding very little good faith on FIFA’s part. Can you imagine a similar ruling against Stalin in the Soviet Union?
Sixth, a dictator is killed by his enemies, a despot is done in by his friends. Mohammad Bin Hammam, the mysterious man from the Gulf who played a suspicious role in Blatter’s 98 campaign, has decided he wants the FIFA perks for himself and announced his candidacy for President. The timing is perfect – every nation but two are mad at Sepp for the Russia and Qattar nominations. And I have a feeling that Qattar will back Bin Hamman. Plus, let’s not forget the payback – Blatter officially backed a Bahraini challenger to Bin Hammam’s incumbent Asian seat in 2009.
As Sepp pulled for the US over Qattar, he could sense his power over the corrupt FIFA slipping away. Before, the Gulf money bought him his seat. Now it was buying off his friend Grondona. And had him in its sights as the next target. Does Mohammad bring a hope for reform? Well, he did argue for Presidential term limits. But this idea went nowhere, was probably a revenge move vs . Blatter and also lacked credibility – Mohammad is on his third term as the AFC President. D’oh!
Thus, the next time you blab about Blatter being a dictator, bite your tongue. Then say “kleptocracy” five times really fast. No respectable dictator would be associated with this bumbling collection of….
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