‘Right move’, absolutely

Football lovers everywhere must feel relief now that the just re-elected FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, decided to suddenly resign.

The move must have been prompted by pressure exercised on the 79-year-old linchpin who did not want to budge from his lofty position even after the scope of corruption within the international football association he has been heading since 1998 was revealed.

The honourable thing to do would have been for Blatter to resign as soon as the news of arrests and corruption scandal erupted, and before last week’s elections in Zurich.

That would have paved the way for the election of a new leadership untainted by sleaze, but like many authoritarian rulers, he clung to power, caring only about his interests, with not a thought to spare for the association he headed.

Now FIFA will have to wait for at least half a year before holding new elections, and that, in the case of an organisation sitting atop billions of dollars from uncertain dealings, and responsible for the most popular game on earth, is not right.

Moreover, that will give time to Blatter, who will stay on as FIFA president till the new one is elected, to do more scheming and wheeling, and that does not bode well for the association and its supporters, for its image and reputation, not to mention the fact that the association will be quite crippled during this waiting period which may well extend to March next year.

HRH Prince Ali, who ran against Blatter in the recent election, described Blatter’s resignation as “the right move”. Sure enough, but many wonder what happened in the course of few days to convince Blatter, who seemed poised to stay on for as much as possible, to give up.

Hopefully, Prince Ali will run again for the presidency of this association. Whoever will be at its helm will need to clean up FIFA and make sure it runs as a nonprofit organisation that cares for the sport it represents, rather than as a moneymaking conglomerate that only cares about yields.

Blatter’s resignation should take immediate effect, and not be allowed to drag on for months, especially since Blatter has lost all moral authority to lead FIFA.

It would make more sense to hold an emergency meeting right away and elect a new president, instead of leaving FIFA under the command of a man whose name and reputation have been tarnished. 

Or appoint Prince Ali as interim president until elections are held, in due course.