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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 July 2000 Issue No. 490 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 July 2000 Issue No. 490
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Focus International Economy Opinion Interview Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters He made all the difference
Before the third and deciding ballots were cast, Charles Dempsey left the room, leaving South Africa in the dark, in the lurch and, ultimately, out in the cold.
Had Dempsey, from New Zealand, stuck around and voted for South Africa, as his government had instructed him to do, South Africa and nearest rival Germany would have been tied 12-12 in the number of votes cast in Zurich last week to see who would win the right to host the 2006 World Cup. FIFA President Sepp Blatter would then have cast the deciding vote to break the deadlock. In all likelihood Blatter, a strong campaigner for an African World Cup, would not have voted for Germany, writes Alaa Shahine.
Instead of sticking to the prepared script, however, Dempsey did a mystifying U-turn: he abstained from voting in the crucial third round. The 78-year-old had initially voted for England, but when the country was eliminated in the second round, he informed the 23 other members he would abstain. True to his word, he got up and walked away before the third round of balloting got under way.
As a result, Germany edged South Africa 12-11, triggering widespread celebrations by the victor while leaving the loser and New Zealand in shock. New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark wrote to South African President Thabo Mbeki expressing her "extreme distress and disappointment" at Dempsey's conduct.
Blatter hands Franz Beckenbauer a trophy and certificate after Germany won the bid for the 2006 World Cup
Dempsey said he had decided not to vote because of the pressure. "It was because of the intolerable pressure that was put on me, not by the actual bidding people, but by people on the fringe and incessant phone calls I was receiving in my room and also the attempts to bribe me," Dempsey said on his return to New Zealand.
There was indeed a bribery hoax carried out by a German magazine. Several executive committee members said they had bribery letters pushed under their hotel room doors on the eve of the election. But FIFA later explained that the letters had been produced by the satirical German magazine Titanic and that it had nothing to do with the German bid.
While it appears Dempsey's claims of improprieties are unfounded, FIFA is taking no chances, saying it will conduct an investigation of its own into the allegations. Not satisfied, Mbeki told a business conference that the vote had elements of dishonesty about it. South Africa's bid committee is considering the possibility of taking legal action, saying it would examine whether Dempsey's abstention was valid.
Alec McGivan, the head of England's delegation in Zurich, has one explanation that puts Blatter, not Dempsey, in the eye of the storm. McGiven's theory is that the four Asian members of the FIFA executive committee ganged up against Blatter after he refused to sanction an additional place for an Asian team in the 2002 World Cup. The Asians were furious and had walked out of a FIFA congress in Los Angeles in the summer of last year. "The Asians have been waiting 12 months for their revenge. And they were able to exact it," McGivan told The Times of London.
Germany had seven votes from Europe in the bag and, by giving it four more votes, the Asians could effectively hand Germany the World Cup instead of to South Africa, McGiven contends. That would have been a mortal blow to Blatter who had, from day one of his tenure as FIFA head, said it was only fair that Africa should hold the World Cup in 2006. "Blatter's prestige would be shattered. He could even face being ousted as FIFA president," he added.
Shattered, too, is South Africa which is trying to put on a brave face. It insists it will bid for the 2010 World Cup. But in the same breath it concedes it might find itself too cash-strapped to carry out another public relations blitz.
The Germans insist the vote was fair and their victory well earned. Germany, three-time world champions, had indeed impressed FIFA with its infrastructure and the experience it has in staging major sports showpieces. It certainly had the upper hand over Morocco, Brazil and England but reports indicate that, in the final days leading up to the ballot, South Africa had edged Germany as FIFA's favourite.
While there appears no question of the 2006 results being changed, the ramifications of the vote are far from over. A pall rife with rumours of a conspiracy, corruption and wrongdoing weighs heavily on FIFA's headquarters. Inevitable comparisons are being made with last year's Olympics scandal in which delegates were found to have received bribes from countries wanting to host the Games in return for votes.
