The reek of corruption has become overpowering
Sport incapable of self-policing – national and international regulation is needed
AGES and philosophers had said as much before, but nobody put it better than Lord Acton almost 130 years ago: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”
It was originally coined in consideration of Roman emperors as gods. Wielders of absolute power, like Stalin and Hitler, Papa Doc Duvalier and Pol Pot, gave 20th century underpinning.
So also in sport, where the reek of corruption pervades high office. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini were banned for eight years following an ethics inquiry. Joao Havelange set a corrupt precedent at FIFA, and the International Association of Athletics Federation president, Lamine Diack, indicted for corruption, has resigned from the Olympic movement.
Football lieutenants like Jack Warner were banned for life after squirrelling millions. Diack solicited cash to cover up positive dope tests, helped by family and corrupt athletics officials.
Football and cricket worldwide is recurrently implicated in match-fixing, but the demise of Sam Allardyce, less than a month after his first match as England manager, plumbed new depths.
A newspaper sting exposed his alleged willingness to advise on circumventing FA rules on club ownership and transfers. It was suggested this was the nadir for English football. Then proved it wasn’t the next day, handing the FA details implicating eight current or former Premier League managers in corruption.
Having ascended from a council house to English football’s highest job, Allardyce is the latest manager to act like a god, contemptuous of the sport and fans. Arrogance and greed fuel the power that corrupts. Despite earning £3m annually, Big Sam allegedly could not resist the offer of an additional £400,000 as a speaker and ambassador.
Vast sums lay football open to corruption. Awash with money from TV, kit deals, and hyper-inflated ticket prices, the game purports to be operated by people who love it. In reality it’s run by people who love a fast buck, and don’t care how they woo it.
Is corruption endemic? Ascertaining that would take an independent inquiry for which the FA seem to have neither courage nor stomach.
How often does football, or any other sport, expose corruption?
Media investigations have the best strike rate. Why are Allardyce-style stings so widespread? Is it because in the world of football management – former club colleagues chatting, boasting – details of offers from agents have ready currency. If these really were so rare, every “Fake Sheikh” would prompt suspicion. But no. Hence ready acceptance of such approaches, especially when brokered by a known agent.
Football is far from alone. The International Olympic Committee would have us believe they cleaned the stables by imposing stringent measures following corruption surrounding Salt Lake City hosting the 2002 Winter Games. This occurred during the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch, and involved everything from hospitality and sexual favours to