FIFA and the future of football
In July, FIFA caused uproar by announcing plans to create a new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE), to take over all its commercial operations, including the World Cup. The plan controversially included the idea of selling a minority stake, up to 21 per cent, to private investors, with the aim to raise $4.2 billion. Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, claimed that this would provide millions of dollars in additional development funding for poorer national associations.
However, other national and regional football authorities decried the scheme. The governing body in Europe, UEFA – an organisation which itself is hardly a fan favourite – for once seemed to read the room: ‘This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross… The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.’ Capturing a generalised antipathy over recent changes in the game, one journalist wrote, caustically: ‘Football is perhaps reaching the end of its natural existence as a genuine competitive sport and continues to morph into a television-led entertainment business.’
Yet the commercialisation of football has been progressing for decades, from the Sky Sports moneymen dictating to the English Premier League to the razzmatazz of the World Cup in North America, complete with a half-time show in the final itself. Super leagues – a means for the biggest clubs to grab more of the cash – have been attempted and abandoned (and, perhaps, quietly being resurrected). And FIFA itself has been accused of allowing World Cup hosting to be bought, whether it is in Russia, Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
So, the idea that this is the Rubicon football shouldn’t cross dismisses the hundreds of changes that have already pushed the game away from the interests of the fan. For example, early and late kick-offs, scheduled for television’s convenience, cause immense annoyance for travelling fans. The fact that the Crystal Palace supporters group, the Holmesdale Fanatics – for years, the heart and soul of the club – have now given up on organised activity due to obstruction from the club board and the police is a depressing sign of the times. Is FIFA’s move really something new, or symbolic of a wider crusade against the average fan?
Football is the most popular sport on Earth – so is it wrong to exploit that popularity to develop the game internationally? Or does all that money ultimately come out of the pockets of fans? Is the real problem commercialisation or corruption? Few now remember the controversies around the formation of the Premier League or Champions League, but would anyone want to go back?
