Has FIFA changed?

Year after year, global sporting events such as the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games have become pharaonic. Has FIFA, criticized for its corruption, succeeded in its transformation towards more democratic governance?

It's been more than three years now since one of the biggest corruption cases at the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was played out, not a World Cup or Euro soccer tournament. On May 27, 2015, seven federation officials were arrested in Zurich while the FIFA Congress was taking place. A total of fourteen individuals, most of them FIFA executives, have been charged with racketeering, fraud and money laundering in connection with the awarding of several World Cups.

Russia was chosen as the host country for 2018 at the same time as the alleged corruption. So, even though the 2018 World Cup in Russia is likely to be the most expensive in history, with a bill of eleven billion euros, including six for infrastructure, we cannot yet draw any conclusions about the «new» FIFA, the one after the scandal, since this competition is certainly the fruit of it.

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This year's edition still bears the hallmarks of the old management, but FIFA is trying to keep a low profile by funding more and more soccer in emerging countries, and by wanting to stop the race to gigantism for the World Cup. These new ambitions stem from the change at the head of the federation and from intense international pressure. The call for reform has been powerful, especially in Western countries, to combat the seemingly permanent corruption at the Federation, as the man who was President from 1998 to 2016, Sepp Blatter, is accused of all evils. The man was suspended from the world of soccer for eight years. In his place, a little-known figure, also from the Upper Valais, was elected president: Gianni Infantino. After the scandals and affairs, the word «reform» was on everyone's lips, and expectations were high on Infantino's shoulders.

And he was keen to multiply the number of actions demonstrating his desire to reform the institution. These include video refereeing, the promotion of women's soccer and his grand plan to expand the World Cup from 32 to 40 or 48 teams. Despite all these announcements, the impact on FIFA's real problems - money and governance - remains meagre, and the long-awaited reforms have never materialized. Quite the contrary: worrying decisions have been taken, such as the abolition of the anti-racism committee, and members of control committees have been forced to resign. The current Chairman even thwarted a reform aimed at transferring his executive powers to a Secretary General. Most worrying of all, however, is the non-renewal of the Ethics Committee, the very body that was behind Blatter's and Platini's suspensions.

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The Federation's real projects were not addressed. Worse still, the corruption that was thought to be behind us has resurfaced. Infantino was at the center of an investigation into unjustified expenses, and the preliminary inquiry suggested that the president was highly suspicious. In the end, the investigation came to nothing. Money remains king at the head of world soccer, and the President knows all about it: he had declared that his presidential remuneration of one and a half million insulted him personally. Infantino initially denied this, but was forced to change his mind when a recording of the meeting was made public.

It was this same thirst for money and profitability that prompted its creators to dream up a Club World Cup that would alone bring in twelve billion over four editions. The failure has been palpable since 2016. The gap between the new president's promises and his achievements shows no signs of being bridged.

The observation that nothing has really changed since Blatter is shared by a good number of specialists. It consists of promising more money to the federations, often the poorest ones. And as each federation, regardless of its size, carries the same weight in the elections, the money spent can quickly be recouped. Despite Infantino's assertion that «FIFA has changed», the old demons have not fled. The private governance of this multi-billion-dollar association reached its limits long ago, and the «new FIFA» that its president imagines as a democracy looks more like a dictatorship under his leadership. Indeed, Gianni Infantino finds himself in an all-powerful position: he can dismiss the heads of the supervisory bodies, and he alone was behind the appointment of the new General Secretary - presented to the Congress just minutes before his election.

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FIFA, this huge association, has never been accustomed to independent control. What's more, the fundamental principles of modern democracies remain unapplied. Impartiality is often ignored, and decisions are not applied equally to all federations, members and candidates. Elements such as independent control, publicity of decisions and processes, and the separation of powers are not yet respected. Even elections are not held within a democratic framework, and are the source of many problems at FIFA. As usual in corrupt organizations, the leader's choice is simple: either try to implement the promised reforms at the risk of leaving, or stay in office. Infantino has chosen the second option.

For many, the only way to reform the Fédération Internationale de Football is through the European Union and the United States. Indeed, the prospect of internal reform of FIFA's governing bodies seems remote, as the less economically developed countries have benefited in large part from Blatter and Infantino's method. The money flowed in and these nations re-elected Blatter from 1998 until 2016. Changing FIFA doesn't make much sense to them, as they could be the losers. Authoritarian countries also find FIFA's organization close to their practices, and the World Cup, one of the world's most important events, remains a formidable vector of dissemination for these regimes.

For the moment, nothing fundamental seems to be calling FIFA into question. Even some Western sponsors who had fled have been replaced in part by Chinese partners. And in world soccer, as long as the money's there, all's well!

Write to the author : clement.guntern@leregardlibre.com

You have just read an analysis from our dossier «Has FIFA and soccer changed?», published in our paper edition (Le Regard Libre N°40).