He's off and running. Looks like Sepp Blatter has kicked off his reelection campaign for the FIFA Presidency to be held in June. Only, it's unclear what kind of entity FIFA really is. It's not a country (its reach is global), it's not a state (it doesn't have an army), it's not a democracy (despite the elections to the body's Presidency), and it's not the Vatican (despite the lovely idea of a "year end message", in which the FIFA chief boldly states that he looks "forward to meeting the representatives of the member associations there in person, addressing their concerns and, together, setting a strategic course for the future.") It's sort of like an INGO - an International Non-Governmental Organization, except that it doesn't meet the World Bank's definitional standard of pursuing "activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development" (in fact, you could argue the opposite in the case of some of its activities, like the World Cup in South Africa - but that's a rant for another day).In any case, it's going to be a busy spring election campaign for Sepp, filled with the hardships of staying in unfamiliar hotels and eating exotic foods. The campaign to garner a majority of the 208 votes at stake at the June 1 meeting in Zurich will take Blatter literally all around the world. His quest for a fourth four-year term starts off in Doha, Qatar in early January for the vote rich 46-nation Asian Football Confederation; then later that month, the campaign moves on to Pago Pago, American Samoa where the smaller Oceania body will hold its meeting (only 11 votes). In February, he'll trek to the the critical African confederation meeting in Khartoum, Sudan - critical because of the 50+ votes at stake, and an important constituency in Blatter's previous election (when he promised to bring the World Cup to Africa - a promise he kept, after all). March brings Blatter to more familiar environs in Paris, where UEFA meets that month, before Blatter's reelection effort concludes at meetings of the South American (CONMEBOL) and Central and North American (CONCACAF) football federations by the end of May.
And wouldn't you know it? Blatter has identified his number one campaign issue that he hopes will persuade electors to grant him another term: corruption! After an intense year filled with accupation of bribery and the actual banning of two FIFA ExCom members from voting on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, it seems that Blatter wants to become FIFA's Mr. Clean. In an interview with the Swiss SonntagsZeitung Blatter boldly declared that he would personally ensure that there will be no (more?) corruption in FIFA. He is working on a "project" that he will present at June 1 FIFA Congress that will create a new committee tasked with ensuring "compliance" (not clear with regard to what or how, but, hey it's a campaign slogan, not actual policymaking).So far, it's not much of a race. As in the last "race", so far there are no challengers. If any are planning to step forward, they have to hurry up since they have to be nominated by a FIFA member nation at least two months before the vote. So it could be smooth sailing for Blatter, but that's not guaranteed.
The campaign issue Blatter has chosen has some inherent risks: it's could reveal him as a hypocrite, and that's never a good thing. Just yesterday, Bayern Munich's President Uli Hoeness - a powerful man in European soccer - made no secret of his distaste for Blatter's leadership of FIFA in an interview with Germany's Sport Bild newspaper. Hoeness' criticism? It's pretty simple: Blatter has lost control, FIFA decisionmaking is corrupt, and Blatter cannot be counted on to clean up the mess he helped create. The solution?* Have UEFA throw its weight around and make FIFA more transparent and accountable. It would be an easy trip for Hoeness to help clean up FIFA - it's only about 200 miles from Munich to Zurich.
* This should sound familiar, as I've noted this in a previous post.
