Blatter: FIFA's big troubles are behind us
Reuters - Friday 25 May 2012, 12:17
A year on from his
scandal-scarred re-election as FIFA president, Sepp Blatter told
delegates at their annual conference on Friday that world football's governing body was taking big steps back to calmer
times.
The 76-year-old Swiss, in his opening speech to delegates
from FIFA's 208 member nations, said that they were moving back
to a "safe harbour" after the events of last year in Zurich when
he was re-elected unopposed for a fourth term against the
backdrop of bribery and vote-rigging allegations.
In what was a relatively low-key address for the often
upbeat leader of the world game, he meandered between the events
of the last year and quiet moments of reflection of what lay
ahead.
"A year ago I underlined to you the need for FIFA not to
have a change but to adapt our organisation, and especially its
governance, to modern times," he said.
"I compared our institution to a boat which was sailing
along - not always in very calm waters - and I'm sure with
your help at the end of the Congress we will have brought back
our boat in to the harbour, a port of tranquillity."
He added: "It is not always easy to find solutions to the
problems. When you are on the pitch it is easy enough, because
you have the touchlines and the goallines and you have a ref and
you play for 90 minutes. But outside the field there are no
boundaries, and with 300 million people involved in football,
you cannot control them all, it is impossible."
And using words that echoed through a number of speeches
made by other speakers, he said that "trust and confidence" were
returning to world soccer's governing body.
"It is all about confidence and trust and when you
re-elected me last year I said we have to go forward. We did it,
together with the executive committee of FIFA - your, our,
government - starting with different meetings and steps
forward."
Among the major changes made since last year, he said, were
a review of FIFA's statutes, a woman joining the Executive
Committee and the splitting of the Ethics Committee into
adjudicatory and investigatory halves.
These issues were due to be discussed, or at least laid
before delegates, during the Congress.
"We are on the right track because, besides the reforms, we
also worked on the protection of the game... so, we can say at
the end we have made a big, big step forwards," he said.
However, he added, there were still problems ahead, none
more so than the troubles marring the preparations for the World
Cup in Brazil in 2014.
"Its not all as easy as we hoped it would be but we can
trust the government and football in Brazil for the organisation
of the World Cup and the Confederations Cup," he said.
This time last year Blatter was due to stand against Qatari
Mohamed Bin Hammam for the presidency but Bin Hamman pulled out
of the contest just days before the vote was due.
He was later banned from football for life for his role in a
bribery scandal which also ended the political football career
of Jack Warner, a FIFA vice-president.
Bin Hammam's appeal against his ban is being considered by
CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport.