The interview was overtly political as bin Hammam is testing the waters for his own presidential campaign after helping to steer Qatar to the shock landing of the 2022 World Cup. However, Bin Hammam’s comments are also the first public sign of discord in FIFA since the end of the Joao Havelange era, and perhaps evidence that Blatter may have made a major political misstep with his handling of the World Cup bidding process.
Bin Hammam is not a saint, by any stretch. He continues to defend the two ExCo members who were caught soliciting bribes on camera prior to the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and has long decried the media’s investigations into FIFA corruption. It’s something of a stretch for him to suggest that replacing members will clean up the cesspool -- while continuing to insist that the folks with their hands caught in the cookie jar are clean. But, the Asian Federation head has a point -- Blatter is increasingly looking like damaged goods on the world stage.
Blatter took office under a cloud in 1998, beating UEFA head Lennart Johansson in a campaign that was marred by allegations of bribery (one member, Farra Ado of Somalia, has said he was offered $100,000 for his vote). Financial mismanagement has been a consistent theme of recent years, with one of FIFA’s former staffers, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, claiming that Blatter covered up nearly $100m in losses by their now defunct marketing partner ISL (that case was settled in Swiss courts).
However, under Blatter, FIFA has staged three World Cups in this new century, events which both spread the game's crown jewel to Africa and Asia. For a while, there was enough money flying around for folks to think of Blatter as the eccentric uncle who happened to make everyone a mint.
This past year might have changed all that. The South African Cup, which was Blatter’s personal baby, hit all the wrong notes. There were dreadful performances on the field, atrocious officiating, and serious questions about the morality of having an African country spending massive amounts of money on infrastructure.
It was a major black eye for FIFA and fiscal disaster to boot, with the governing body having to pour a billion dollars into the competition. Despite South Africa’s loud protests to the contrary, the fact is the Cup was a hard sell at the gate, and FIFA’s official hospitality company declared bankruptcy shortly afterward. The Cup finished darkly -- the final itself was one of the poorest and roughest in the history of the tournament.
The latest allegations of corruption might have been the last straw. Blatter’s response was seen as ineffective and paranoid, and even he was forced to admit that holding the bidding for two World Cups at the same time -- ostensibly to increase “marketing opportunities” -- was just an invitation to collusion.
In bin Hammam, Blatter might have met his match. The Asian Fed chief has apparently been clearing the decks. It is rumored that he engineered the unseating of long-time Korean powerbroker Chung Mong-Joon in this month’s AFC election for Jordanian delegate Ali bin Al Hussein. While bin Hammam has publicly said he supported the South Korean, it’s difficult not to note that Chung’s loss removed a major player from the presidential race. Chung had once challenged Blatter previously, and was widely expected to run; with him out of the Asian congress, he is now ineligible to hold FIFA’s top office.
And considering that the president looks more like a piñata than a leader with each passing day, perhaps a change at the top wouldn’t be the worst thing. Certainly, some football fans around the globe would delight in the removal of their bete noire.
The real question is: Is there anyone out there with clean hands and modern ideas who would be better?
Jamie Trecker is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the UEFA Champions League and European football.
