By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 30 – “Nobody loves us, we don’t care” is the mantra of one of England’s less popular football teams. Barring one word in that phrase, one could argue FIFA is adopting pretty much the same mentality as they approach the climax of Sepp Blatter’s two-campaign to rid his organisation of slease and corruption.
For “We don’t care”, read “We DO care.” At a briefing ahead of Friday’s pivotal FIFA Congress when a spate of statute-changing reforms will finally be adopted by its 209 member nations, senior FIFA officials were at pains to point out that barring age and term limits, the organisation has done everything it possibly can to put in place effective, workable measures which it hopes will change the image of world football’s governing body for good.
It’s a laudable but could prove to be a forlorn hope. Because whether Blatter likes it or not, measures such as integrity checks for senior appointees, a more powerful ethics committee with far more bite than previously, more women in senior positions and future World Cup hosts being decided by FIFA’s entire membership are currently, rightly or wrongly, not carrying nearly as much weight in closed-door sessions and media briefings as the thorny issue of age and term restrictions.
Age and term restrictions will not see the light of day this Congress following a decision to put off the whole debate for another 12 months. Many believe it is imperative for serving members of the FIFA heirarchy not to be allowed to go on indefinitely.
Certainly that is the opinion coming out of UEFA, whose members today expressed their displeasure and disquiet at what they perceive as the issue being swept under the carpet.
Michel Platini, for one, is somewhat cynical. The UEFA president believes there is simply no collective will to endorse age and term restrictions and doesn’t buy the argument of some of his non-European colleagues that because there was no specific detailed proposal on the table for Friday, any recommendation to