Why Sepp Blatter and N. Srinivasan look like long-lost twins
Disclosures of match fixing, bribing and betting at some cricket events organized by BCCI seem to match in degree, if not in scale, the happenings at Fifa
There is something bizarre about the organization that runs the beautiful game.
Last week, even as a massive corruption scandal unfolded at Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), Joseph S. Blatter, the man who was its president for the last 16 years, was re-elected for another four-year term.
Indians though are unlikely to be shocked by such blatant disregard for propriety. Disclosures of match fixing, bribing and betting at some cricket events organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) matched in degree, if not in scale, the happenings at Fifa. Yet N. Srinivasan, who has presided over BCCI’s workings for some of the years when these scams took place, doggedly refused to take responsibility for anything that happened on his watch.
Indeed, Blatter and Srinivasan in their matching mastery of the art of survival could well be long-lost twins, separated at birth on a particularly hectic match day. Both men sit atop hugely popular, and therefore, rich sports bodies. Both have also perfected the art of aping the ostrich when it suits them. BCCI, the body that has cornered all rights to the game of cricket in India, has been mired in controversy over the last few years. Srinivasan’s son-in-law is facing charges of colluding with bookies for betting on games in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Yet, the man is unmoved.
Blatter’s short-sightedness, of course, is as convenient as it is notorious. For 16 years, he has expertly manipulated international football, always ensuring he is doling out enough favours using Fifa money. Come election time, these favours are called in.
Bloomberg dubbed the Blatter formula—also followed by Srinivasan—“pure pork barrel politics". Fifa and BCCI both give themselves the rights to pay large sums out of the money they get from the game to constituent associations, countries in the former’s case, and states in the latter’s. For associations in Cayman Islands or Goa, to give two examples, the money is godsend. When elections come around, most of these associations use the one vote each gets (the same as a Brazil or a Mumbai get) wisely. Grants for a new stadium or even an office, appointments to key positions, managerial roles on tours, a look-in for a local player, everything helps to turn them into loyal allies.
This is why Blatter comfortably secured a fifth four-year term in office last week despite the crisis engulfing Fifa. Srinivasan, who was ordered by the Supreme Court to resign from BCCI to facilitate investigations in the betting scam, was elected chairman of International Cricket Council.
The allegations surrounding both may well be exaggerated, but there’s no denying how the sports they represent have become mired in controversy, often to the detriment of players. Fifa’s decision to award the world cup to Qatar, a nation with no history of supporting football, came at great expense—hundreds of migrant workers are believed to have died at the construction sites of the various stadia. In addition, till better sense prevailed, Fifa was all set for the games to be held in the peak of summer in a country where temperatures could soar to 50°C. What that would have done to a Lionel Messi’s body is obvious but while awarding the World Cup, football’s governing seemed not to care as long as the cash poured in.
Three years ago, under pressure, Fifa hired Michael Garcia, a former US federal prosecutor, to investigate the Qatar and Russia votes as well as other allegations of misappropriation of funds. Garcia produced a 400-plus-page report, presumably critical of Fifa’s workings. Not surprisingly, Fifa published a selective summary which Garcia termed “incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions". Garcia quit and Fifa continued its merry ways. Enjoying the support not just of the association but of big companies—some of them owners of instantly recognized brands—which pour billions into tournaments across the world, it could afford to buy the connivance of those who might differ. And that includes India.
Despite the scandals, All India Football Federation president Praful Patel refused to censure Blatter. Presumably, India voted in his favour last week.
Is there a way to fix this flawed and corrupted system? Over the last few years, the Chinese government has embarked on a thorough cleansing of its football federation, with some success. That’s because the campaign was led by then vice-president Xi Jinping. Football’s problem and that of Indian cricket is, there is no one to tell Blatter and Srinivasan where to get off.
Can big game associations be reformed? Tell us at views@livemint.com
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