English FA's Move to Postpone Fifa Presidential Election of Blatter Fails

172 of the 208 Fifa groups have rejected the call by the English FA to postpone the re-election of Sepp Blatter.

Although the move by the English FA, backed by the Scottish FA was expected to fail, this is perhaps a larger figure than was expected. If this had come up earlier than yesterday it probably would have been significantly more.

Unfortunately they had to make their minds up overnight, but this does show that the national Fifa representatives are becoming more and more uneasy with Blatter.

Some quarters are claiming that this leaves the English FA humiliated and boxed in to a corner.  This will come as a bitter disappointment for David Bernstein, who wanted effectively to unseat Blatter and precipitate a wave of change in Fifa.

Bernestein needed 75% of the groups to back his proposal so Sepp Blatter will now go ahead and be re-elected.  After all, he is the only candidate.  Unless the unthinkable happens and the voters block him by showing no confidence and not voting at all it looks like this most slippery of football animals has escaped to fight his corner another day.

Bernstein remains adamant that this has been a hugely damaging time for the reputation of Fifa and that it should appoint a genuinely ­independent external party to make recommendations regarding improved ­governance and compliance procedures and structures throughout the FIFA decision-making processes for ­consideration by the full membership.

Blatter has himself proposed 'a committee for solutions not a committee for discussions'.  If needed he has said that Fifa will call an extraordinary congress in order to stop the 'ulgly allegations'.  He said 'We must take a look at this today and we must go ahead with all the power of this congress gatherered here today. I hope that we will follow the path that I am trying to chart... because we must know where we are going.  We must build a better future for our game.

'We can perhaps be more at ease when it comes to the financial situation but we must protect football.  You the National Associations are the ones in charge of protecting football. Give me the possibility to create this famous Solutions Committee. Football belongs to everyone and we are the ones in charge. Together we can do it, together we will get there.  Fifa will once again find the credibility it must have.'

In other words, Blatter is passing the buck. He remains a hugely controversial figure but it looks as if it will be another four years of him at the helm unless some sort of two year deal is brokered. It is quite likely that after he is re-elected he will eliminate all his FIFA of all his detractors.

How Blatter manages to his hand on the rudder is extraordinary and is in some ways a tribute to his sheer tenacity and will power.  Yet any measured thinking about the running of Fifa would come up with two conclusions.  How can he stay at the helm if he didn’t know what was going on? If that is the case he is not fit to run Fifa.  On the other hand, if he did know about the irregularities then his exit should be expedited because he will have been part and parcel of this whole degradation of the reputation of football. Yet such is the way of the world with secret and unaccountable organizations.

The sacrificial lamb offered up for his survival may well be Qatar.  Pundits believe that the choice of Qatar to host the World Cup of 2022 may well be reversed.  A new ballot could be held within a year.

Mohamed bin Hammam Withdraws From Fifa Election Campaign

Mohamed bin Hammam has pulled himself out of the running for the presidential election for Fifa, in order to clear his name amid speculation with alleged bribery within football’s world governing body. 

Both Bin Hammam and Jack Warner face allegations of bribery. While Blatter is accused of knowing about the bribery.

The president of the Asian Football Confederation, Bin Hammam, and his rival in the election, current Fifa president Sepp Blatter, are both under investigation.

He said: "I pray that my withdrawal will not be tied to the investigation held by the Fifa Ethics Committee as I will appear before the Ethics Committee to clear my name from the baseless allegations that have been made against me.

"I promise those who stood by me that I will walk with my head held high and will continue to fight for the good of the game.

"I would like to offer my thanks and appreciation to all Member Associations and individuals who supported me. I hope that they will not receive my decision with disappointment and frustration.
"I have a special thank you to my friend and colleague Jack Warner for his unlimited support. I am sorry to see that he has to suffer because of me, but I am promising him that I will be with him all the way through thick and thin.
"I look forward to working closely with my colleagues to restore Fifa's reputation to what it should be - a protector of the game that has credibility through honesty, transparency and accountability."

Bin Hammam added: "I made the decision to run for the Fifa presidency because I was and remain committed to change within Fifa.

"I set out my goals and ambitions clearly - to further the cause of democracy within Fifa - through a commitment to transparency and accountability; through a commitment to expand the number of officials and nations involved in decision-making processes.

"In addition to this, I wanted to spark a debate about change in Fifa. For the good of football, I wanted the future to be bright for our world's governing body and for it to adapt to the ever-changing world we live in today.

"However, recent events have left me hurt and disappointed - on a professional and personal level."

Gullit Moves to Chechnya – Does a Ruud Awakening Await?

In what some quarters are already calling the worst football transfer in the world, Ex-Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit has been appointed as the new boss of Terek Grozny, the beleaguered Russian region of Chechnya’s top club and 12th in the Russian Premier League.

You could say it is a long way from Chelsea to Chechnya both geographically and in terms of football – and you probably wouldn’t be far wrong.  Yet what people are really scratching their heads about is what exactly Gullit was thinking about when he took the wallet.  The general consensus seems to be his wallet.

His immediate boss will now be Ramzan Kadyrov the President of Chechnya who isn’t exactly one of those cute bears you see as mascots east of what was the Iron Curtain.  If you can think of a human rights abuse, Kadyrov has probably been accused of it, both during his tenure as rebel fighter and now as President of Chechnya.

Mr Kadyrov wants to use football as a way to enhance the image of his country both in the Russian Federation and abroad – even though most people would be happy enough for him to enhance human rights instead.  When Russia received the right to hold the World Cup in 2018 he lost no time in suggesting that Grozny was a perfect host city for some of the matches.

This in a city of 210,720 people – thanks to the war a little more than half of the population a decade before and which is still in the process of rebuilding after many years of carnage and destruction.  Even translated from Russian, the name of the city means variously "fearsome", "menacing", or "terrible".

The British Foreign Office still advises against any travel to Grozny for any reason.  Suicide bombings are not as common as they were but they still happen.  However, kidnap, with its associated torture and murder can be listed in their hundreds over the last few years.

Ruud Gullit has not yet traveled to Chechnya and he may want to google the country and make a few notes before he goes there.  Yet he has signed an 18 month contract sight unseen and has been promised money – lots of it – by President Kadyrov (pictured below) – to build up a team.

Gullit’s appointment comes shortly after the departure of Victor Munoz (who played for Spain and managed several clubs).  Munoz arrived in Grozny last week to take up the position but has since walked out.  Whether that is because of the dry bars, the gangs of youths who roam the streets shooting women who are not wearing Islamic headscarves or the lack of shopping on Putin Avenue (yes you read correctly), the Chechen answer to Carnaby Street, is unknown.

The Terek club has stated that he demanded changes to his contract that they were not willing to make, so perhaps the walkout was over football after all.  Regardless of the reason, it has given Gullit the opportunity to step in to Munoz’ shoes, take the money and stay.

There are no details about just how much money is involved.  However, it is imagined that the sum is considerable.  A Chechen businessman is now funding the club and the financial input is thought to be sufficient for the new manager to buy a number of world class players.  Mr Kadyrov has already demanded that the club finish in the top eight of the Russian premier league next season.  It seems Gullit has his work cut out for him.

Gullit may have to watch his temper when it comes to his Chechen colleagues.

He has something of a history of descending precipitously from his perambulator (one way of saying falling out of his pram) and has in the past walked out of the Dutch national team and argued with the Chelsea chairman.

Yet he also supported Nelson Mandela when the South African statesman was in prison and coined the phrase sexy football which points to a more liberal temperament than perhaps his new paymasters.

It can only be hoped that Gullit is not in for too much of a Ruud awakening.

Image Credits
President Kadyrov
Terek Grozny Logo
Ruud Gullit
President Kadyrov with gun