THE dramatic resignation of Sepp Joseph Blatter as FIFA president left many in shock especially that the man had remained adamant on holding on to his position amidst corruption scandals.
Blatter, undoubtedly, did a lot in terms of developing football with Africa and Asia among the big beneficiaries during his term as he was a man, who clearly demonstrated his passion for football.
He will fondly be remembered for bringing the World Cup to Africa which South Africa hosted in 2010 though the decision to award the bid is under investigations after $10 million is said to have been allegedly paid out to secure the bid.
The unsealed court documents revealed on Wednesday that United States (US) prosecutors have detailed evidence of corruption at the highest levels in FIFA and I am sure this must have sent shivers too many associates of the past regime.
Testimony from disgraced former North American football supremo Chuck Blazer that FIFA executives conspired to accept bribes during the campaigns to host the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, won by France and South Africa, has put a taint on the awarding of the bids.
In parallel to the US inquiry, Swiss prosecutors are looking into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar.
We all remember how on June 1, 2014, the Sunday Times reported that Bin Hammam, a Qatari, made payments totalling £3 million to football officials in return for their support for the Qatar bid.
A lot of African football federations’ presidents and renowned figures were mentioned to have pocketed some monies and it will be interesting to see the results now that even the 2010 bid has come under scrutiny.
These revelations have really put a bad image on the world’s football governing body and there is urgent need to clean up the mess before the beautiful game loses out.
Much as Blatter and his general secretary might deny wrong doing, all these allegations happened under their watchful eyes and one hopes these investigations can be scaled down to various federations.
There is need for associations and in this case, FAZ to be accountable to the various funds it receives from various sponsors, well-wishers and government in order to continue wining the public trust.
With the levels of investment going into football now, there is no hiding from public scrutiny and any stains corruption or failure to account for these will just harm the beautiful game.
These lessons or pointers go everywhere where football is played and FAZ will be no exception to make sure that it does not only account for the monies it receives from various sponsors, Government or private, but also exhibit the highest levels of transparency.
Everyone knows that FAZ receives money from Government, Zambian Breweries, MTN Zambia, Airtel Zambia, SuperSport, Nike and others but some questions have always been asked especially regarding the SuperSport deal.
Interestingly, the FIFA probe has opened doors to associations to be investigated unlike in the past when it was called interference. I am sure the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) must be getting excited to carry out some works on some pending investigations.
In order to stay clean and away from scandals, openness in other words transparency would clear the air on underhand moves and possible kickbacks.
We continue watching as events continue to unfold as investigations and campaigns to succeed Blatter continue.
Have a lovely sporting weekend and remember to interact on eliaschipepo@gmail.com or elias.chipepo@times.co.za.