So Sepp Blatter has said he will go and much of Europe and North America has erupted in joy.
Fifa, the gatekeepers of world football, will finally be clean again. The beautiful game will be rid of its bruises and emerge once more like the beguiling, unblemished model it was before that nasty Swiss man came into power.
Only such a conclusion would be as misguided as a quip about female footballers wearing tighter shorts. Or that racism can be solved with a handshake. Or ... well, you get the gist.
Aside from the fact Blatter has no intention to vacate his throne for another four months at least, it must also be noted that, even in his native tongue, he never actually uttered the word demissionne (definition: "Resign").
He will instead “lay down his mandate”, which will presumably involve championing his preferred successor all the way to the polls. Even his harshest critics concede he is a master politician.
Read more:
– Who will replace Sepp Blatter as the next Fifa president and how did we get here?
– As all strongmen do, Sepp Blatter has fallen – but he did accomplish things
Beheading the snake (metaphorically of course) is a positive step in any reformation process, but it cannot be forgotten that 133 representatives at Friday’s Congress voted for the 79-year-old Swiss to remain in power. Change was quite clearly not unanimously desired inside the walls of football’s governing body. The next step is always more important than the last.
Blatter has the backing of practically the entire developing world largely because of his determination to win the Nobel Peace Prize ... sorry, to expand the game globally by taking the World Cup to Asia and Africa for the first time. Outside of Europe and North America, he is as popular as ever, as evidenced by the standing ovation he received following Friday’s re-election.
The snake can always grow another head – Blatter himself is evidence of that. Elected in 1998, he replaced Joao Havelange, who would later be found to have accepted "not inconsiderable amounts" of money in exchange for broadcast rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Those indicted by the US Department of Justice last week are accused of corrupt practices dating back to 1991.
Before Havelange, of Brazil, every Fifa president had been European, but Blatter, to his credit, has expanded the game exponentially. The continent can no longer claim rightful ownership. Europeans such as Michel Platini, Luis Figo, Michael van Praag and Jerome Champagne have all been predicted to run, but would any of them be able to confidently crack the cabal of Africa, Asia and South and Central America? Unlikely.
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein is an early favourite having claimed 73 votes last week against Blatter, but he did not win votes in Asia, his own confederation. Nor does he offer a clean break. If Fifa is genuinely intent on starting afresh, the next president must be an outsider; someone free from the current rotten regime; someone with a global outlook and little vested interest.
Under Fifa’s current rules, such candidates are not eligible, but as Domenico Scala, Fifa’s independent chairman of the audit and compliance committee, promised on Tuesday, when it comes to implementing reform, “nothing will be off the table”.
Kofi Annan, at 77, is two years younger than Blatter and holds global respect and admiration for his work as secretary general of the United Nations. He has also already won the Nobel Peace Prize.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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