Dion Fanning: FIFA address their democratic deficit the way they know best

Having identified the key flaws in the World Cup voting process Fifa identified another flaw: Having a vote itself

DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT: Paraguayan Football Association President Robert Harrison, Uruguayan Football Association President Ignacio Alonso, Conmebol President Alejandro Dominguez and Argentine Football Association President Claudio Tapia hold a replica of the World Cup trophy after announcing in a press conference in Luque, Paraguay, on October 4, 2023, that the "inaugural matches" of the 2030 World Cup will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay  (Photo by Norberto DUARTE / AFP) 

“Enough of this running shit,” Sean Connery exclaims as he chases one of Al Capone’s bootleggers across a Canadian field in The Untouchables, a chase he brings to an end by firing a rifle into the air.

“Enough of this voting shit,” Fifa must have thought to themselves after the scandals of 2010 when the 2018 World Cup went to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, after a voting process which may be described as sub-optimal. Subsequently 17 members of its then executive committee were accused, indicted or banned following corruption allegations to do with the World Cup bids.