July 01, 2014
Joseph "Sepp" Blatter
Source: Shutterstock
When my father owned a First Division Greek team, one of the three most successful in the land, there were rumors about our goalkeeper, an Argentine called Nestor Martin Errea. I was close to him, having been a goalie myself in school. I confronted him with them. One doesn”t bribe goalies, he told me, one bribes refs. “Too many goalkeepers look as if they took a dive when they miss an easy one. You can”t fool your teammates.” Hear, hear! And this was back in 1974 and the money was small-time change compared to now.
What is to be done? FIFA is an enormously successful moneymaker, yet very little seeps down to the development stage. An all-powerful commissioner with the kind of clout that cleaned up baseball after the World Series scandal of 1919 needs to be named, one with the kind of prestige only enjoyed by Supreme Court justices in the U.S. or certain royals in Europe. The lavish offices, wages, and travel expenses enjoyed by today’s FIFA biggies have to stop. Open books and open voting are a must. Sepp Blatter and his motley accomplices need to resign or be prosecuted for graft.
