If FIFA Was to Actually Tackle Corruption...

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...where would it start?

This is a question that I've been mulling over for a little while now, but it seems really pressing today, as FIFA announced that the banning of executive committee Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii (you'll remember them from a plucky little scheme to sell their World Cup hosting votes, the scamps).

Now these two guys have been ousted from all "football activities" – Adamu for one year, and Temarii for three – so god help them if they get caught having a kickabout with some kids. Four other FIFA-types, all former executive committee memebers, have also been suspended.

This all sounds pretty good, I guess, and is pursuant to Sepp Blatter's claims last month that he's going to "clean up FIFA." These guys tried to sell there votes, so the story goes, and now they've lost their votes and been punished. Fair's fair.

But is it? And will it do anything?

The main problem with corruption in FIFA as far as I can see is the amount of power held in individual hands.

When it comes to the bidding process for hosting the World Cup, everything comes down to the 24 votes from the 24 members of the FIFA executive committee. We're talking about the power to choose who gets to host the world's biggest sporting event. In the hands of 24 men. That's a lot of power in very few hands (48 hands, I guess).

Since any given bid will have a few natural allies in the committee – regional neighbours and stuff like that – there's huge value in winning one or two more votes through, uhh, "unscrupulous means." Now that number has been reduced by two. I doubt if too much more chicanery will be going on, given the spotlight that's now blazing on the bidding process, but banning Temarii and Adamu – while necessary – means anyone else who may have been bought – and I'm not saying that anyone has – was an even more potent investment.

My second necessary fix would be to fix term limits to executive committee members.

Jack warner article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1332583/FIFA-chief-Jack-Warner-warns-Englands-2018-bid-suffer-BBC-screen-Panorama-World-Cup-investigation.html?ITO=1490

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