12/21/24
January 28, 2015
Former Portuguese footballer Luis Figo joins crowded field looking to unseat Sepp Blatter as President of FIFA.: The 78-year-old Blatter is seeking his fifth consecutive term as FIFA President in an election to be held May 29th. Figo joins Frenchman Jérôme Champagne, Jordanian Prince Ali (who has won the backing of England's FA), Dutch FA President Michael van Pragg, and a bookmaker-backed publicity candidate. ESPN FC's Gabriele Marcotti offers a brief primer (autoplay audio/video warning).
posted by Ufez Jones to soccer at 11:02 AM - 2 comments
Something like five major sponsors have already left FIFA as contracts expired but I don't see any sign of change.
Instead I see Real Madrid taking $500M for putting Abu Dhabi in the name of the Bernabeau.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:13 AM on January 30, 2015
Blatter is the tip of a very large iceberg of patronage and corruption. The issues in FIFA are systemic. I'd like to see the whole thing broken down and rebuilt, but unless one of these guys can get rid of a lot of existing FA reps, they don't stand a chance in any "election".
Having said that, if a few of the big FAs decide to boycott FIFA competitions, and we, as fans and spectators, start lobbying them, along with commercial pressure on sponsors that put money into FIFA, something could change. A few sponsors are starting to have second thoughts about Russia and Qatar already.