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Sunday, 24 April 2011

FIFA chief wants evolution not revolution


Listing his achievements since becoming president of world football's governing body in 1998, Blatter talks up the great sums of money Fifa has invested in football development (£1.02bn since 1999) and the even greater chunks of cash Fifa earns from television and marketing rights (over £2.45bn in the last four year cycle from 2007 to 2010).

He also talks of three successful World Cups, greater professionalism and social responsibility.

At a time of global instability and uncertainty, Blatter argues, there is no need for change. "We do not need revolution... but continuous evolution," he writes in his letter to each of the 208 member countries which will decide the election contest against Mohamed Bin Hammam at the Fifa congress on 1 June.
Blatter's six key election pledges for the next four-year term include promises to hand out another £612m for football development projects with the possibility of bonus payments ifBrazil 2014 is a success, to tackle corruption and match fixing and to strengthen the "universality of football".
But nowhere is there any commitment to clean up Fifa or to make the organisation more transparent after the latest series of corruption allegations levelled at the organisation.

The only passing reference is contained in Blatter's pledge on zero tolerance.
He writes: "The existing judicial bodies will continue to exercise their corrective function and by doing so will maintain the integrity of Fifa while further improving its reputation at all levels."

Even if it would be hard for Blatter to concede that some members of his executive committee and congress are corrupt, this line shows he is in complete denial about the image problem Fifa faces under his leadership.

In a nutshell Blatter is saying: Fifa isn't broke, so why try and fix it?

So, it is worth therefore, reminding everyone that two members of his own executive -Reynald Temarii and Amos Adamu - were given bans by Fifa's ethics committee after the Sunday Times newspaper alleged they asked for payments for football projects in return for their vote in the World Cup 2018 and 2022 bidding contest last December.

The head of North American, Central American and Caribbean football, Jack Warner, continues to face scrutiny over his conduct. Just last week The Times ran a story claiming he asked the England 2018 campaign for financial support for an educational project in Trinidad in return for his support - a claim Warner denies.

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