25 April - 1 May 2002
Issue No.583
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 25 April - 1 May 2002 Issue No.583 |
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Trying to wait out the storm
It is hard to tell whether Sepp Blatter is guilty of financial fraud, but for a man who claims to have done nothing wrong, the FIFA boss is going in the wrong direction.
Blatter's suspension earlier this month of an internal audit looking into possible FIFA mismanagement of hundreds of millions of dollars has made louder the cries of foul play in what could be a sports scandal bigger than the bribery imbroglio of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games.
Blatter's sole explanation for suspending the investigation -- which had been started against his wishes -- that there had been "a breach of confidentiality," means little to most observers and nothing to his detractors. They would rather stick to news reports which suggest that Blatter blocked the audit because it was due to question FIFA's finance director Urs Linzi. The reports said Blatter also wanted to prevent the organisation's secretary-general, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, from giving evidence.
While Linzi has had no comment, Zen-Ruffinen has had plenty to say. "I think these manoeuvres were aimed at stopping me from giving evidence because I could reveal some delicate details," Zen-Ruffinen told Le Temps newspaper.
In another interview, Zen-Ruffinen told the Swiss Le Matin two other things: he decided not to go to a FIFA congress in Miami last week after receiving physical threats and warnings. And calls for his resignation by officials loyal to Blatter was an attempt to stop him from testifying at the internal inquiry.
None of what Zen-Ruffinen is saying can be independently corroborated. The other problem is why he remained silent for several months after noticing what he called "a dysfunctional financial system within the heart of FIFA." He said he had withheld secrets about FIFA finances out of loyalty to Blatter but if, as he claims in paraphrase, that he is as honest as they come, then ethics must come before personal bonds.
One comment by Zen-Ruffinen needs no independent verification. He said the controversy- packed build-up to next month's FIFA presidential elections was turning people into "madmen." Blatter said as much, insisting that his accusers were sowing chaos simply to destabilise the organisation before the 29 May congress that will either re-elect him for four more years or replace him.
But if Blatter was genuinely serious about setting FIFA's and his record straight, he would have allowed the internal audit to get on with its work. He would have allowed its six members to see for themselves whether the sum of FIFA's loss, connected to the bad debts of ISL -- its long-time marketing partner before collapsing last year -- is $30 million as Blatter claims, or as much as $300 million as FIFA executives fear.
Instead, critics say Blatter is stonewalling, trying to hold off the FIFA search party until after election day. In so doing, Blatter has contributed to a far more intense election battle than that of 1998 and turned soccer, the world's biggest pastime on two legs, on its head.
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