Henry McLeish: For the future of the beautiful game, everything Blatter stands for has to go

The politics and economics of global football have always been complex and far removed from the understanding or scrutiny of the millions of fans and supporters who love the game and just want to see the best for their club, community and country. How sickening it is then for FIFA, the governing body of world football, to operate like a crime family, with its own godfather, dispensing bribes and kickbacks and agreeing World Cup locations on the best financial return rather than football benefit.

Trust and confidence in this tawdry FIFA executive has disappeared and Sepp Blatter has become a global embarrassment. Thankfully he has now agreed to go. His recent and short-lived re-election only confirmed how far the tentacles of his regime have spread and the depth of these corrupt and embedded practices.  

The UN of football has become a laughing stock. People will be dismayed and angry. This presidency has now been brought to an end and the whole executive organisation in Switzerland should now cleaned out.  

Despite the heroic and remarkable intervention of the FBI and US Attorney General, it will take time to unravel the complex web of illegal payments, bribes, money laundering, corruption and deceit that, sadly, is the modern FIFA executive. The culture of an institution is hard to change.

Over nearly two decades, this FIFA President has painstakingly and systematically built up a system of patronage and homage unparalleled in world sport: benevolent despot or crime family boss, no one should underestimate how sophisticated this web has become and how difficult its dismantling will be.  

No one doubts for a minute the good work being done by FIFA, especially in the developing world, but this can never excuse the behaviour of people who have dragged the ‘beautiful game’ down and lined their own pockets in unlawful criminal conspiracies with certain sections of the sports marketing world and others. 

When FIFA behaves like this, the interests of the few dominate. And when the President argued he “was not aware of everything that was going on” and suggested that he was the person to sort the mess out, we had surely arrived into a nightmare world where reality had been replaced with delusion, arrogance and a complete contempt for those who love the game. This nightmare is soon to be ended. Huge problems remain in the path ahead.

So what needs to happen? Hopefully, the US legal involvement is stepped up and is followed through. FIFA makes the football rules but it’s not above the rule of law.  Law enforcement agencies, including Britain and other jurisdictions, especially in Europe, should join the Swiss police and start to investigate matters further. The World Cups in Russia and Qatar are a good place to start as well as looking into money laundering using British banks.

The European football authorities, broadcasters and corporate sponsors have a major role to play in shaping the new Fifa.

Time after time, sponsors have made bold statements but have failed to follow through. This makes little sense. Money matters to FIFA, but so should morality in a game that reaches hundreds of millions of children and young people. We need action, not words.

Billions of pounds are also paid by Western broadcasters and they have a role to play in exerting pressure on FIFA.

In the world of six confederations comprising 209 countries that make up FIFA, UEFA can give a lead. They are the most important and influential bloc in world football and can exert real pressure on the FIFA executive to force change.  

Boycotting the next World Cup, threatening to collectively withdraw 50 national associations from FIFA, raising the spectre of creating a new global organisation and demanding a new code of conduct for organising world football are all ideas that mat have to be used to put pressure on Blatter’s successor. UEFA remain in a powerful position for change. 

We need to acknowledge the tough task that lies ahead. Blatter’s legacy however will be hard to dismantle. 

FIFA should be forced to revisit the many reports that have been written about the future governance of this ramshackle and outdated organisation. The Michael Garcia report was the most recent. They refused to publish the report, denied any investigatory authority access to the findings and then issued a summary which was disowned by the author and finally, the report was binned.  

Good governance requires transparency, sensible scrutiny of the bidding process for World Cup bids and a code of conduct enforceable with punitive sanctions for the executive, the 209 members and all of the participating national football associations.

The four national associations of the UK along with Ireland could give a lead by speaking out and making it quite clear that for the global good and credibility of the game, change is urgently needed.  

Is FIFA ready to step into the 21st century, renew itself and reconnect with the real football world that the rest of us live in? For the future of the beautiful game, everything Blatter stands for has to go. The size of the task should not be underestimated, though.