Cracks appear in Blatter election support ahead of FIFA vote

ZURICH — Support for Sepp Blatter extending his 17-year hold over global football weakened in the final hours before his re-election bid.

His longtime backers in the Caribbean said they may shift their support to his rival, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, as pressure grew following criminal probes on two continents into soccer’s governing body. Also announcing support for the Jordanian prince were the US and Canada.

“I came here without a doubt that I’m going to vote for Blatter,” said Randolph Harris, president of Barbados football. Now, however, “the people of the Caribbean have realised with the latest scandal they have to think carefully about the future”.

With 209 votes in the secret ballot, Blatter has received the solid backing of confederations in Africa and Asia, with Europe the only group whose leaders are speaking out against him. Still, he would need two-thirds in his column to win on the first round. As support peels away, that first-round victory is looking less assured.

“For us, this is a vote for good governance,” US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said about his backing for Prince Ali.

UEFA, the group that oversees football in Europe, had floated the idea of a boycott, but an Irish official yesterday (May 28) said the Europeans will participate. That clears the way for a vote today.

Blatter, a skilled tactician when it comes to football politics, knows the numbers are still probably in his favour even as FIFA is rocked by a widening corruption probe and sponsors step up criticism of the organisation.

VOTING SYSTEM

“I am sure more bad news will follow,” Blatter said yesterday in Zurich. “I know many people hold me ultimately responsible. I cannot monitor everyone all of the time.”

Though Europe is home to football’s richest teams, biggest stars and last three World Cup winners, its power on election day is neutered by FIFA’s one-country, one-vote system. That gives the Caribbean island of Montserrat (population 4,900) as much say in who runs the global game as Germany (population 81 million), which in Brazil last year won its fourth World Cup title.

The shift by the Caribbean voters is due in part to the FIFA president not voicing support for their regional leader, Jeffrey Webb, after his arrest this week in Zurich, presidents of the Grenada and Barbados football associations said in interviews late yesterday.

“Sepp Blatter made a mistake,” said Cheney Joseph, the president of Grenada football, who declined to specify for whom he’d cast his vote. “The day before, he was hugging Jeff.”

Harris of Barbados also declined to say how he’d vote, citing the ballot’s secrecy.

CORRUPT CULTURE

UEFA condemned a “deeply rooted” culture of corruption at FIFA, but its members won’t boycott the poll, according to John Delaney, the CEO of the Football Association of Ireland. The Asian and African confederations, with 100 votes to UEFA’s 53, led calls against a delay and reiterated their support for the 79-year-old incumbent.

“If we had boycotted the election it means you can be sure Mr Blatter will be re-elected, and we want to try and avoid that,” said Michael van Praag, the head of the Dutch football association, who dropped out of the presidential race last week.

Swiss and American officials have opened investigations into FIFA, alleging corruption, racketeering and other misdeeds in the group’s management and its decision to award the next two World Cups to Russia and Qatar. Though Blatter hasn’t been charged, nine FIFA officials and five others were among 14 people named in the US indictments.

92 PER CENT

“As influential as UEFA is, Blatter still has very strong support from his caucuses in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean,” said David Webber, a teaching fellow at the University of Warwick’s international studies department.

In the last poll, in 2011, Blatter got 92 per cent of the votes — though he ran unopposed after Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar withdrew following accusations of trying to bribe participants. This time around, he has a challenger, but it’s not clear the prince has sufficient support to unseat Blatter.

In Moscow yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin likened the probe to the US case against Edward Snowden, the former government security contractor who sought asylum in Russia after exposing secret diplomatic communications and other sensitive documents.

PUTIN’S SUPPORT

Blatter has “every chance” of being re-elected, Putin said in televised remarks. “We know the pressure that was put on him to prevent the 2018 World Cup taking place in Russia.”

During Blatter’s tenure, FIFA’s income has ballooned — the latest World Cup tournament generated almost US$5 billion (S$6.7 billion) in revenue — and more than US$1 billion of that was shared with member nations via so-called “solidarity” programmes.

Furthermore, some regional confederations vote as blocs in presidential elections. Though in theory all of UEFA’s 53 members could oppose Blatter — an unlikely scenario — they will be outweighed by the 56 countries that belong to the Confederation of African Football, which in September decided to back the incumbent.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Nigeria, for instance, backs Blatter’s re-election bid, “100 per cent yes!” the country’s Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick, said yesterday. “He believes so much in developing nations, not just Africa. So based on that, the developing world is giving him support.”

In April, Caribbean voters tried to outdo one another in showering praise on Blatter at their regional meeting. A Dominican official likened him to Jesus, Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln. And after yesterday’s raids, the Asian federation — home to Blatter’s challenger, Prince Ali (by FIFA’s logic, Jordan belongs to Asia) — stressed its support for the incumbent.

“The AFC reiterates its decision taken at the AFC Congress in Sao Paulo in 2014, endorsed at subsequent Congresses in Melbourne and Manama in 2015, to support FIFA President Joseph S Blatter,” the Asian confederation said in a statement.

LOW PROFILE

Blatter has shied away from the public eye since news of the investigations broke, leaving his spokesman to parry reporters’ questions. FIFA said he met with the group’s regional chiefs yesterday afternoon and attended the opening of the FIFA conference in the evening.

“There will be many who are frustrated with the pace of change,” Blatter said in a statement Wednesday. “We will work vigorously within FIFA in order to root out any misconduct, to regain your trust and ensure that football worldwide is free from wrongdoing.”

Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, one of those indicted, was released yesterday after a night in jail in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and spoke with reporters and supporters while awaiting an extradition hearing.

“If I have been in FIFA for 30 years and I have been thieving all the money, who give me the money?” Warner asked, and a crowd member called out “Blatter”.

“And why it is he ain’t charged?” Warner responded. BLOOMBERG