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1 Jun, 2015 12:57

Sepp Blatter's re-election is victory for democracy

Sepp Blatter's re-election is victory for democracy

The arrest of seven FIFA officials at the behest of US authorities, two days before the football ruling body’s annual congress, casts a harsh light not so much on the way FIFA is run, but on the assertion by the US of its right to police the world.

The manner and timing of the arrests eclipse the gravity of the corruption allegations that have been leveled against the seven officials concerned, indicted by the US Justice Department and arrested in their hotel by Swiss authorities working in cooperation with their US counterparts. In total, 14 individuals have been indicted on charges of corruption in connection with the investigation, with the seven arrested in Switzerland now facing extradition to the United States. Oddly, none of the seven is an American citizen.

READ MORE: Back in the saddle: Defiant Blatter blasts US probe against FIFA

To put this event into some sort of context, imagine the international backlash if either Russia or China had decided to organize the arrest of citizens of another country on the territory of a third country, without first consulting the appropriate authorities of the countries in which the individuals concerned are nationals and/or citizens. The resulting backlash would be off the scale, especially in the US, adding more fuel to the Russophobia and Sinophobia that is already prevalent there, as well as throughout the West among its allies.

The question a world interested in the right of national sovereignty, independence, respect, and international legality is entitled to ask is this: Exactly where does this assertion of the right by the US to run its writ anywhere it sees fit stem from?
The answer of course is obvious. The astounding arrogance we have just witnessed on the part of the United States is a malign product of the unfettered power it has enjoyed and abused for too many years, evident in the chaos and crisis it has created across a globe that has been plunged into a perennial cycle of conflict and instability.

Unsurprisingly, almost as soon as the US operation began in Zurich, the call to have Russia stripped of hosting the 2018 World Cup grew to a crescendo. There were even calls to have it moved to Britain instead. How convenient!

Current allocation of FIFA World Cup™ confederation slots maintained. http://t.co/mGpiRkacu9

— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) May 30, 2015

The resulting re-election of Sepp Blatter as FIFA president at the congress, which continued regardless of the fiasco, came as a rebuke to the clear attempt to undermine him and the world football body, with the objective of bringing about an end to his leadership. This is not to assert that Mr Blatter is completely without fault in the way the organization is run – indeed, there may well be serious and legitimate questions in this regard – but this ‘stunt’, for there is no other way to describe it, was a crude and transparent attempt to seize control of one of the few international institutions that remains truly democratic and independent of control by the West.

Sepp Blatter may have many faults, but kowtowing to the writ of the powerful nations within FIFA is not one of them. In fact, the only thing the US and its friends in Europe have succeeded in doing is to solidify support around him as a symbol of resistance to their tremendous arrogance. For what we saw with the arrests in Zurich resembled less a demonstration of the long arm of US justice as an example of US imperialism.

We welcome the actions of the Swiss & US authorities. Read my statement - http://t.co/f2Z25cwm5d

— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) May 27, 2015

Under Blatter’s stewardship, FIFA has made great strides in developing football throughout the developing world. This has taken place under FIFA’s Goal Programme, which since its launch in 1998 has put in place modern pitches, training centers, youth academies, infrastructure, and equipment, thus providing the foundation upon which football in those parts of the world has flowered over the past two decades. It has also provided funding for marketing the sport, setting up tournaments, and ensuring that the most poverty-stricken parts of the world have benefitted from the huge wealth generated by football around the world.

Blatter has played a key part in driving forward these efforts, which is why he’s earned the respect and loyalty of FIFA member associations throughout the developing world, and why they refuse to participate in the campaign of demonization that has been waged against him over the past few years. What ‘they’ dismiss as patronage, others call the redistribution of resources and funds from the developed nations to the undeveloped nations, thus providing them with the ability to compete on the international stage. Even more important is how it has kept alive the dream in the hearts of millions of impoverished kids of a route out of poverty for them and their families via football.

READ MORE: Blatter ‘shocked’ by US action against FIFA

The growing controversy over the decision to grant Qatar the privilege of hosting the 2022 World Cup cannot be denied, giving rise to legitimate questions over the bidding process and procedures. The abuse of migrant labor, employed in Qatar on construction projects for the 2022 tournament, is a matter of deep concern. Unless serious action is taken by FIFA, it will undeniably leave a stain on the organization and international football. But here the West also has little credibility. Qatar, along with the other Gulf States, has long been guilty of human rights abuses, while remaining close allies of the US, Britain, and France. The word for this state of affairs is hypocrisy.

What took place in Zurich was an attempt to seize the leadership of FIFA. It was an attempt driven less by justice and more by geopolitics.

Sadly for them, however, it failed. Sepp Blatter was re-elected. In the end democracy won.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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