The football industry is corrupt. You know this, we all know this. The nature of the institutions who govern the sport, combined with the enormous amounts of money the industry is now worth, is a toxic cocktail.
A few minutes ago the Fifa Ethics Committee provisionally banned Fifa president, Sep Blatter, Uefa president (and Fifa vice-president) Michel Platini, as well as Fifa Secretary General, Jermoe Valcke, for 90 days pending an investigation. Former Fifa VP, Chung Moon-joon has been banned from the game for 6 years and fined. Chung and Platini both remain candidates to succeed Blatter as Fifa president – yes, it’s that dysfunctional.
This may be the beginning of the end for football’s great Oligarch Administrators, who lived like Saudi princes, paid for by the money which slushes around the game, but it is far from assured that football is now on the right path. Blatter, the embodiment of everything which is wrong with sport and business to many, remains a hugely popular figure. Some of the games administrators, themselves untouched by corruption, shed tears when he recently announced his decision to retire.
The core problem is one of democracy. Fifa is a democratic organisation, which on the face of it sounds like a good thing, but democracy has its drawbacks. One member one vote affords the British Virgin Islands the same weight when it comes to exercising ultimate control as Germany. Apart from hosting the World Cup once every 40 years or so, Fifa can offer Germany little tangible support, but the governing body can metaphorically pave the streets of tiny nations with gold.
Fifa executives, and Blatter in particular, have enormous patronage under their control. Blatter is personally responsible for the decision to ‘support the game’ in many small nations and protectorates, by funding the construction of expensive stadiums and facilities. These amenities are great for the recipient nations, often well beyond anything the local FA or government could afford. Blatter has been The Great Facilitator to many far-flung entities. That patronage buys loyalty and genuine affection.
The problem is not limited to the Fifa executive. Administrators at all levels of the senior game enjoy control over a degree of patronage. Merely becoming an office holder at your FA makes you a dignitary of some sort. There will be an expense account, doors will open, facilities made available.
Football’s problem is that its structure made it inevitable that corrupt individuals would eventually take control. Cutting the head off Fifa will not be sufficient to change that, the way football funds itself also needs to change – and that would inevitably mean less money going to poor places in the world. If accountability replaces patronage, Blatter’s largess to underfunded Associations would end. The game would be cleaner, but there are 100 FAs with skin in the game who stand to lose, so assume nothing.
Take a look at the work of Joseph Gormley, a Scots-born artist in the US, who has raised over $170k for various charities. His is another great tale in the story of the Celtic support.
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Well done Ireland.
Cork celt
You get what you deserve in football
Ireland were always going to beat the Germans. Always
Yyyyeeessss ….the mad fighting Irish have done it again …..tooralloo, toora…..so happy ….. At the end of the day, the cream always rises to the top ….. Felt sorry for Scotland, but they didn’t do enough against a very lakldaysical Poland …..onwards and upwards, Ireland
WITS
Tactical masterclass from you. ⚽️
Scrunnered here. Surrounded by Poles celebrating. Good luck to them they’ll need it. They only have Lewandoski. I hope Ireland beat them and the Poles gag in their third play -off spot.
Well done, Martin!
Unlucky, Gordon. Georgia defeat very costly.
This is mean but. …
Scotland have declared independence from the rest of the UK by not going to euro 2016
tell you what, i am loving EBT Dodds utter despair on shortbread.
Hunderbirds are gone …. Brilliant moniker …. Hahahahahahaha
Well done Ireland…..fantastic result.
am I right in thinking that the second polish goal now means that Ireland need to win to get second, whereas, had Scotland held on for the win, ireland would have qualified with a draw in the last game?
Warbmeister to replace wee Chesney by Christmas, you heard t here first
Martin O’Neill, manager of the World Champions. For tonight anyway.
At least FOCUS will have a good night with all the pyrotechnics going off in the stadium.
cv
Team for Motherwell away?
Celtic :-)
At least our Scotland squad players will get a decent break before the Champions League qualifiers next summer. Every cloud ……
Mike in Toronto
Ireland can get second by beating Poland or getting a 2 all draw
Terrible way to end the campaign to lose such a poor goal but my only concern is James Forrest. Hopefully his injury wasn’t anything serious. Celtic should now withdraw him along with Brown & Griffiths for the meaningless Gibralter game.
Saint Stivs – yer wee mate from your Alma Mater with the EBT is absolutely gutted as well…both of them can go home and count their “aye readies”….
I said to my son before kick-off that we would beat Poland then lose to Gibralter with a 94th minute OG.
But I never saw THAT coming.
The only consolation is that the bhoys in green will hopefully be there!
Scotland proud possessors of The Wooden Spoon..
Loving the two Huns in the studios mysery.Sorry for the players on an unbelievable nights football,but I am happy our players will be getting a break next June.More important for our team.
Have to say though,it just sums up nearly every campaign I have seen Scotland play.Somebody up there just does not like us.
Gutted that we have bowed out in this way!
Can’t believe that there has been no mention yet at all (by McCann and Tanner) of Steven Naismith’s incredible miss, very early in the second half.
However, as in 2007 when I was in Tbilisi for a defeat to a very young Georgian team, we threw it away yet again, hwn we could have taken our destiny into our own hands.
I’m one of his greatest fans, but WGS’s words before that game should be haunting him now!
HH, and let’s look forward to our next game!
4 points off Germany over two matches well done the Republic.
What is the Stars
You got lucky twice.
They still have not qualified. I still expect Poland to put them into the play-offs.
Scotland never get the kind of Luck the Irish have enjoyed in this tournament.
If they are in the play offs I’ll be interested to see who they get and how they do.
For me they are a team of hammer throwers who got lucky.
Scotland tried to play football under Strachan and failed.
Sad but true.
Exslaemuirbhoy
Yeah, that was before the German result came in.
Now Joachim Loew will feel the Warbgenius’ shadow over him.
And they gave us Artur Boruc, Jackie Jackinowski and Tyskie beer!!
:)
WITS: Fair play. You called it correctly. I couldn’t see it myself but over the moon. Hard luck Alba. Would have been nice to see both Celtic nations go through. An Irish win on Sunday would be wunderbar.
I think it was one all in Dublin Mike. So a scoreless draw in Warsaw will do Poland, a 2 all draw would do Ireland. I assume a one all draw would go to extra time and penalties.
WEST END OF EAST END on 8TH OCTOBER 2015 9:56 PM
Saint Stivs – yer wee mate from your Alma Mater with the EBT is absolutely gutted as well…both of them can go home and count their “aye readies”….
——————–
you were meant to say hello and be outed at the fener game,
did i meat you or no ?
Strachan must be persuaded to stay for the next qualification – he’s only got to beat some team called England whose advantages in qualification are on a par with those enjoyed by Ireland in this one.
WITS…. cheers.
so, if tied on points, it is head to head that decides it? disappointed about the scotland result now for both scotland and ireland. Obviously, I’d like to see Ireland go through, and even if Scotland weren’t going to go through, it would have been a morale boosting win for them….
EMBRAMIKE
Too true bud. That’s a big silver lining. I feel better already, cheers.
67 HEAVEN
⚽️ Cheers ⚽️
Thats nine championships running Scotland haven’t qualified for the finals
Let’s see if any of the msm have the balls to analyse things and trace it back to the David Murray’s wreckless folly, when cheated and connived to push his club to forlorn glory, dragging every other club to the brink, stunting a generation of promising youth.
Says it all when myself and a good chunk of the Celtic support couldn’t care less anyway.
Thats the way this country has been allowed to go. From the days of sash singing, Jinky and Kenny booing Scotland bigots, I was among them and heard it, it’s been festering away unchecked forever
It easy not to feel any love for the country I was born in, Football or otherwise.
WITS
I tried to come on at 5pm to say that if Ireland beat Germany tonight I will sing the Soldiers Song naked in George Square on Saturday at 3pm. But I couldn’t get passed the bloody adverts and pop ups!
Congratulations to all from the Emerald Isle tonight. Hopefully, the job will be completed on Sunday.
I Heard he was Dead, Ireland in Glasgow were hammer throwers, I don’t know what got into them that night but it’s the only time I saw them play like that. Normally they try to play football albeit they have limited resources of genuine International class.
Congratulations to Ireland- a patched up team beat the World champs
WGS did not deserve that last minute goal. I daresay we were out anyway so there was no need for that level of cruelty.
To be honest the Germans and the Poles ( congrats Zbyszek) were technically superior and deserve their places. Ireland have shown great fight with important late goals. Scotland have been unlucky but we cannot yet say we are good enough.
I heard he was dead
Sorry but that’s a little bit bitter and twisted
We got lucky twice? ?really? ?against the world champions?
The more we play them the luckier we get
I told you last month
Now get over it
Lucky my royal irish ass