Corruption in sport

Fair play and honesty are the highest ideals of sport — in sport, corruption and wrong-doing on the field of play are a grave crime, almost a sin. Corruption by the administrators, however, is a different matter - it's almost universal, almost acceptable. We in India are no strangers to this phenomenon. The financial and ethics scandals in the Indian cricket board (BCCI) are so frequent that they have lost their ability to shock. The National Sports Federations in charge of various other sports are equally culpable, largely ruled by greedy, power-hungry officials who cling to their positions at any cost. Usually, the price is paid by the sportspersons.

Thus, the unfolding scandal in football’s governing body, FIFA, is neither shocking nor surprising. It only confirms that football, the most popular and richest sport in the world, has an officialdom that's corrupt to its core. Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, has remained defiant despite the fact that the latest bribery and corruption scandal involves many of his former lieutenants, despite the arrest of several officials on the eve of the FIFA congress. Prosecutors in the US have charged nine officials and five sports media and promotion executives with corruption, allegedly involving over $150 million in bribes. The Swiss authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the process of the award of the next two World Cups, to be hosted by Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Yet Blatter, 79 years old and going for his fifth consecutive terms as president, is not backing out. “We, or I, cannot monitor everyone all of the time,” he said.

Blatter has been FIFA’s president for 17 years, his reign regularly rocked by allegations of corruption. His ability to shift the blame comes from practice. He's not the lone administrator to possess this ability. Bribery and scandals mark the richest of the world’s sports bodies, and the administrators rarely suffer. Blatter, despite the scandals, enjoys the support of a majority of the FIFA's constituents. He's almost certain to be voted president again. That's how democracy works in the dark world of sports administration.