FIFA's corruption web is gradually unravelling
Only gradually, for there is a long way to go, and it remains to be seen what happens now with the entrenched bureaucracies of Latin America which for so long sustained Blatter and his Brazilian predecessor Joao Havelange.
The eight-year bans on Blatter and Platini are being appealed. Both men continue to argue that they have done nothing wrong.
Will the criminal cases against the dozens of indicted officials be pursued? Will the promised reforms be delivered? This is not about one or two individuals, but the systematic corruption of the game that dates back more than 40 years.
Brazil, as well as Argentina, could be a flashpoint.
In Brazil, players are now organising protests against corruption and a campaign for reforms under the banner of “Bom Senso FC” (Common Sense FC), set up former players such as Gilberto Silva, Juninho and Dida. The movement claims to have over 1,000 members and is aiming for wholesale change, in club finances and management. It has so far organised brief on-field demonstrations at kick-off time and is considering strike action as well as putting up its own candidates for election to the Brazilian FA.
There is a nice irony that the crisis within Fifa has come to a head over the “gentlemen’s agreement” by Blatter to top-up Platini’s already extravagant salary as his ‘adviser’ (€277,000 at current rates) by a further €460,000 a year.
Had Platini not sent in his invoices nine years later for the amount owing both men might still be able to brazen it out against their accusers.
It is a little like Al Capone being tripped up over his income tax returns.
Fifa’s Ethics Committee, set up by Blatter, is now being praised for its firmness, but it is hard to avoid the conclusion that it was forced to act under pressure from the US and Swiss authorities.
Last Thursday, just as the ethics hearing began, the Swiss Ministry of Justice announced that it had frozen 50 bank accounts containing millions of Swiss francs, after receiving a request from the Americans.
No one is sure how much money is involved, but Swiss official Folco Galli confirmed that a “high double-digit amount” was in the frozen accounts, so the sums involved could be up to 100 million francs, or around €90 million.
The US authorities say these are the accounts used to transmit corrupt payments in Switzerland. Numerous Fifa officials are believed to have Swiss accounts, among them some of those indicted.
The significance of this move is not just the possible amounts involved, but that the US investigators have been able to get the Swiss to act. There is a separate Swiss investigation and up till now it was believed the US jurisdiction would cover only financial fraud on home soil.
In the background is the veiled threat of state intervention against Fifa. The Swiss government has told parliament that it is “not currently” considering such a move, but refused to rule it out.
If this is bad news for Blatter, it is worse for Platini. He’s nearly 20 years younger than Blatter, a lifetime for football bureaucrats, and his reputation is now badly damaged.
The appeals route involves Fifa’s own committee, followed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The CAS previously rejected Platini’s appeal against suspension, while urging Fifa to conclude the case as quickly as possible. But even a fast-track appeal is unlikely to be completed before 26 February, the date of the Fifa presidential election – always supposing Platini’s lawyers could persuade the CAS there has been a miscarriage of justice. After that there remains a an appeal to the Swiss courts.
Uefa is still defending its president – and we should remember that the most serious charge against him, that of corruption, has not been proved. He is not necessarily finished.
But Platini faces the humiliating prospect of the European championships taking place in his own country while is still seeking to save his career.
