The Buck Stops Here

As I watch the drama unfold at FIFA I find it incredulous that Sepp Blatter will still stand for election as president of the organisation for the 5th time, in the same week that these allegations unfold.

I am not suggesting that he is directly involved in the scandals that are currently being unveiled, as I have not seen the evidence available.

However, he is the President, he is in charge, this has happened on his watch and it looks like it goes back over 20 years, so he does have some degree of accountability.

As Harry Truman said whilst he was President of the US, ‘The buck stops here’.

As President, you cannot just plead ignorance of all this, that just doesn’t wash. At best you’re negligent, because this is your organisation, you should have the right checks and balances in place, the right procedures in place, to stop this kind of thing happening. Especially when allegations have existed for many years.

If I had been President of this organisation as long as him, I would be deeply embarrassed that this had happened right under my nose. I would feel guilt by association and I would have done whatever possible to ensure that our house was as clean as possible.

He may have tried to do that, but if he did, he failed, and now looks incompetent.

So as I say, we have someone who is at best, incompetent or negligent, nether of which are qualities you would want in a President.

There has to be some accountability, but there doesn’t seems to be any really shown by Blatter, which again is not a quality I would be looking for in my President.

Personally, I would be too embarrassed to stand again, I would feel that as this happened on my watch, if not guilty, I am at least partly to blame.

The reputation of football is being destroyed, sponsors are considering withdrawing, this is not a legacy that I would like to leave.

Not only would I not stand for re-election, I would resign my position immediately, such would be the shame I would feel.