FIFA Governance

I have long disliked the way FIFA is run. It's been widely criticised for many years and currently is probably at its lowest point ever. 

Historically, my gripe was around hosting rights. The voting system was based around blocks of nations supporting applications based on political considerations. Some applications were shoe-ins while others  were a waste of time, such was the bias involved. This was regardless of what was good for the game or who was putting up the most credible pitch.

Money has long been used to buy votes and maintain the leadership status quo. In 2015 the U.S. Department of Justice even waded in, exposing decades of racketeering, fraud, and bribery. In came Gianni Infantino in 2016.

I was glad the Sepp Blatter era was over and was hopeful Infantino, as the new president,  would do things in a more transparent way and generally fairer in how decisions were reached. I felt that FIFA couldn't sink any lower. How wrong I was.

Infantino seemingly makes major decisions without consulting member associations or committees. His closeness to political leaders such as Donald Trump, testing FIFA's code of political neutrality. This led to a red card suspension being nullified after a telephone call from a world leader. Coincidence?

Member nations are being offered money to accept a proposal that no one has even been consulted on. As to whether the intention to spin off the commercial rights of the FIFA World Cup is good or not is overshadowed by how it is being handled. 

Details of decisions could be argued. The red flag here is power and how it is being used or abused. There seems to be a lot of power in the hands of one or a few. That power is being wielded in a way that few are comfortable with.

It's human nature that power has a corrupting influence. It goes to people's heads. Democratic becomes autocratic without constraints on the amount of power an individual holds. The problem is, when power is not subject to sufficient checks and balances, things can get out of hand. It's then hard to rein it back in.