The one thing Russia could not conceal was Blatter, with his big mouth and despicable politics
It wasn’t just what he said. It was the fact that he said it. All those years of greed, privilege and deceit at FIFA have left Sepp Blatter so removed from the principles of fairness, that he no longer even recognises corrupt practice.
So, in trying to further discredit Michel Platini — as if any help were needed — Blatter casually let slip that the vote for the 2018 World Cup in Russia was as good as fixed.
‘In 2010, we had a discussion of the World Cup and then we went to a double decision,’ he said. ‘It was agreed that we go to Russia because it’s never been in Russia or Eastern Europe, and for 2022 we go back to America.’
His intention was to claim that Platini skewed the second bid decision by changing his mind and voting for Qatar instead of the United States. Yet what is truly astonishing is that Blatter did not see how disgraceful the first part of his explanation would sound. We went for a double decision? Who went for a double decision? Who was in on this, and how?
Blatter’s allies have tried to portray him as an honest man, unfortunately surrounded by rogues. Sure, just about everyone he appointed or sat beside turned out to be crooked, but he was above it all, he is as disturbed by FIFA’s rottenness as you.
Blatter’s own words nail that lie. Whatever was going down, he was at the heart of it. When England, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Holland were sinking millions into their World Cup bids, a cabal on the inside knew it was all in vain. And Blatter was part of that. Worse — he does not see what was wrong. He is so steeped in FIFA corruption, so blind to any moral compass, he thinks that his version of events makes Platini the bad guy.
And that’s the problem with football’s hierarchy. It’s wall to wall bad guys these days — black Stetsons and black hearts as far as the eye can see.
Blatter has always been a brazen individual, riding out storm after storm, scandal after scandal, as if he could possibly have walked FIFA’s corridors of power as president since 1998 — and as general secretary since 1981 — without knowing exactly how their business was being done.
Yet this should be his fatal error. Here is his admission that votes were meaningless, that outcomes were predestined, that he knew what was in the envelope before he made that big show of tearing it open on stage.
For the law enforcement agencies in pursuit of the old devil, this is manna from hell. Not only has he coughed, but by demonstrating that he literally does not know right from wrong, his interrogators will be encouraged, too. this may be easier than they ever imagined. Get Blatter in the interview room, and then on the witness stand. What else might he confess to, under the impression that this is the way the world works?
I remember seeing one of the Queen Mother’s ladies in waiting being interviewed about the days of royalty, pre-war. She recalled going to a particular event by private train. ‘Of course in those days, everybody had their own train,’ she said. She meant it, too, bless her. the people she knew were all of similar social standing, and she lacked the curiosity or intellect to peer beyond her circle.
And that’s Blatter. He had no idea the furore his words would cause, because he has forgotten that a world exists beyond FIFA’s realm of backhanders, carve-ups, clandestine arrangements and gentlemen’s agreements. that’s why he rails about the English media and thinks the FBI are into FIFA because Americans are bad losers. He genuinely doesn’t see what is wrong.
He is truly unaware of the disgust that is felt towards him. His lack of self-awareness would be pitiful if it wasn’t so repulsive.
SO it transpires that David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham were wasting their time, attempting to recruit floating voters on the eve of the election. But let’s not waste too much sleep over that. Last week, on the occasion of President Xi Jinping of China’s visit to Britain, a former Manchester City no-mark, Sun Jihai, was conveniently opted into the Hall of Fame at the National Football Museum.
this country is not averse to a little realpolitik, and was too cosy with scoundrels like Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer around bid time to plant too many flags on the high moral ground.
Yet if Blatter’s words are sincere — and don’t rule out retractions based around mistranslations or misquotes — the deals for Russia 2018 went far beyond some mutual back-scratching. this was a free vote that wasn’t; a democratic process that had one name on the ballot sheet; an open contest that was closed tightly shut in some secret room months in advance.
Russia knew it was getting the World Cup in 2018, which is why President Putin only flew in for the after- party following the announcement, not before the votes were cast.
What would have been the point? He already knew the outcome. He had nobody to convince, no waverers to persuade. the fix was in. Whether FIFA’s motives were financial, political, or both, Europe’s World Cup was heading east. It is why Russia remains among Blatter’s few allies, why he feels safe there, and safe giving an interview to the state news agency, tASS.
As well as confirming what many suspected about the legitimacy of the vote, Blatter added that Russia will not lose the competition at this late stage. It will be his
All that’s left to arrange for him is an orange FBI jump suit
final gift to football — a World Cup in an oppressive, hostile regime, tough on gay rights and political dissent, soft on stadium racists and the keeping of records during the bid process.
According to FIFA investigator Michael Garcia, Russia ‘made only a limited amount of documents available’. The explanation was that the computers used by the bid team were leased, and were then returned to the owner and subsequently destroyed. Paper and email trails went with them.
Now isn’t that convenient? Yet Blatter, who styled himself as FIFA’s great reformer, before being suspended from all football activities for being the opposite, has not uttered a word of protest over that. We always suspected there was a reason, but now we know.
Thankfully, the files and the hard drives no longer matter. The one thing Russia couldn’t delete was president Blatter, his big mouth and his despicable, decrepit, rotten borough politics. That is now a job for the FBI. The only thing that should be arranged for him after this is an orange jump suit.