FIFA’s Captain Clings to the Helm of His Sinking Ship

Sep 27, 2015 · 19 comments
UH (NJ)
The best thing that could happen would be for each national football organization to leave FIFA. Refuse their organization. Refute their power. Render FIFA obsolete by ignoring them.
Kerry (Florida)
I hear Roger Goodell might be available soon...
David Godinez (Kansas City, MO)
But how do you conflate the corruption and the negativism surrounding FIFA with the sport's ever increasing popularity? It's possible that the reason for the defiance and stubbornness is that the leadership of FIFA thinks it simply doesn't matter how they do business, the sport grows despite the problems, and always will.
Peggy Vanderpool (Serbia)
Great article. Please follow up with a piece on those individuals currently campaigning for FIFA presidency. Specifically, David Nakhid appears to be an interesting candidate. With a career as player and coach, a history of challenging FIFA leadership, and a players' advocat, maybe he is what the organization needs to move beyond its scandals. I'd love to learn more about what Nakhid and the other candidates envision for FIFA under their leadership.
John McD. (California)
When I see Jack Warner seated between two US Marshals on a plane from Port of Spain bound for New York and Blatter in a Zurich jail cell awaiting bail, that will be a good day. As for Platini, he's not really up to the job of running FIFA anyway and this will finish whatever ambitions he has in that direction unless he's got a really, really good explanation for what looks like a payoff from Blatter, with FIFA's money, for his withdrawal and endorsement
MMF (Manhattan)
The top 100 ranked football countries in the world should just form a new football association and conduct a separate world cup. Let FIFA die. Sorry Qatar and Trinidad Tobago, you have no say.
Paul (Bellerose Terrace)
Um, those rankings, which are often questionable, are a product of FIFA's conjuring. But you want to use them to spin off a new ruling body? Cognitive dissonance alert!
adara614 (North Coast)
Roger Goodell for FIFA President?
WSGNY (New York, NY)
FIFA is the largest sports organization in the world,
with more member countries than the International
Olympic Committee.

In terms of any metric, whether participants in the
sport, ticket sales, TV rights, soccer is so far ahead
of any other sport, a second is hardly visible.

The thought that outsiders should take over what
others have built is risible.

That being said, soccer must find leaders from within
who are honorable men and women.

Rey Olsen
George817 (New York, NY)
Good luck on that. The whole thing is a snake pit. Who is above reproach? What have "others built"? A pigpen. FIFA must be reinvented.
Henry (Woodstock, NY)
Perhaps FIFA did not build soccer. Perhaps world wide love of the game by players and fans built soccer. Perhaps the current FIFA just got hold of the organization and turned it to their own personal benefit.
new yorker 9 (Yorktown, New York)
Actually, does anything ever happen in "football", aside from the flopping and the funny noise the fans make throughout the game, even though nothing is happening?

Change the offside rule so occasionally there's some of the beauty of the game of thirty years ago; end the flopping, whatever it takes. And I forgot to mention the gambling and throwing of games.

Also, they surely will eventually have to get rid of heading, because they can't forever cover up the correlation between heading from the age of five, and brain damage. Unless, of course, America's Republicans are in charge of the science!

Other than that, it's a great game...
John O'Hanlon (Salt Lake City)
His age is a factor. Having his secret society of greed fall apart as he witnesses the full undoing of his years of building his sham "legacy' is certain to take a fierce toll on him. About to turn 80, this situation is likely making it seem more to him that he is about to turn 90. Sepp is stressed. I don't think he will be a factor for much longer anyway it's sliced.

Meanwhile, the season in the English Premiere League is shaping up to be awesome, so we have that.

Bye, Sepp.
futbolistaviva (San Francisco)
Like I said in an earlier post per a high ranking attorney friend of mine, I think they have got the "Caporegime of FIFA" dead to rights.
He is going down.
LairBob (Ann Arbor, MI)
It's kind of like Moby Dick...except instead of chasing an ivory-white whale he's only seen once, he's fleeing a pitch-black kraken made of tar, that he created.
David Dyte (Brooklyn)
I don't want to be censored from the comments, so I'll just say: Are you kidding?
John McD. (California)
A brilliant summation of the current hopeless situation at FIFA. No insider should be allowed to assume the Presidency, but the organization is fundamentally corrupt and always will be so long as it is a one country-one vote "democracy". Give out enough grants and contracts, pay off enough power brokers like Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, and your position of power is secure. As for Blatter, maybe his good friend Vladimir Putin will grant him political asylum. It seems, in any case, that Russia is the only place Blatter can go these days without fear of being held for questioning and, possibly, extradited.
Voila (New York)
I'm sure he will be welcomed with open arms in Qatar as well. He can be put in charge of the 2022 organizing committee - loads more money to be made there.
fact or friction? (maryland)
Why not replace FIFA, and not just FIFA's leadership? FIFA is rotten to the core. It's legal status should be completely rescinded and an entirely new organization should be formed that will take its place.