Football's darkest hour
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The world's favorite sport is in crisis. Ignore the soothing words of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, it is obvious to even a casual observer that football's ills have come home to roost.
Only days before a vote to elect the next president of FIFA, one of only two candidates retired from the race and was almost immediately suspended to allow for allegations of corruption to be investigated. The accused President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Mohamed bin Hammam vigorously denies the charges but whatever the outcome of the investigation the game itself is left tarnished and disgraced.
Now 75-year-old Sepp Blatter has what he has always wanted, an unopposed run at regaining the presidency for a fourth straight term. Blatter was unsurprisingly exonerated at the same time allegations were made against his rival. The ethics committee was founded by Blatter and is still funded by FIFA.
The footballing world should be buzzing about last week's wonderful Champions League Final where a rampant Barcelona side provided a showcase of pure football that hasn't been seen since the great Brazilian and Dutch national sides of the 1970s. Instead we are left contemplating another four years of rule by a man who has overseen the game for 13 years and brought it to the current point of ridicule.
The massive amounts of money moving around in the higher echelons make FIFA all but invulnerable to outside forces. These funds will always be a temptation to some and a president can never be expected to watch every individual in his organization but he should be accountable for the overall state of his empire.
While the financial muscle of the governing body remains pumped and inflated the rest of the body is diseased. To the world audience watching FIFA from outside of the closeted bubble they appear cash rich and yet morally bankrupt.
Into this storm is now thrust China's Zhang Jilong. As the senior Vice President of AFC he has been appointed as the stand in for Hammam while he faces the charges against him. It has been reported that Zhang is not comfortable with the role as he questions the legitimacy of the appointment and supports Hammam's innocence.
For FIFA to continue functioning as a coherent body though Zhang will need to take up the reins of the AFC, at least in the short term. This, in all likelihood, will be the one piece of good news to come out of the whole sordid affair.
We all know China football has suffered over the last ten years. Poor international performances, a woeful national league, off pitch corruption and negligible progress at grass roots level have all eaten away at the nation's prestige and standing in the football community.
Once the dust settles from the presidential fallout, Zhang will be in a strong position to lift the profile of Chinese football. It is something the game in China desperately needs.
It maybe too much to ask him to single-handedly rescue football at junior levels, to implement a structure to allow football to compete and flourish against the traditional youth sports of table tennis, badminton and basketball. The chances of him improving the state of the national league so that it becomes attractive to a sport hungry public are perhaps slim. Certainly, wishing he will conjure up an all-conquering international side without either of the previous two frameworks being in place is fairly pointless.
What he can do though is to act as a high profile figurehead for fellow enthusiasts of the game to gather around. Together, by building from the grass roots up, they may lead China out of the footballing doldrums and eventually put it alongside the giants of Europe and South America. He needs support and time to do this but if it can be achieved the present crisis will at least have had some positive impact.
The darkest hour is upon the footballing world but Zhang can be seen as a glimmer of inner light for Asian football. It is up to others though to find the courage to nourish and follow this faint light, wherever it may lead.
The author is a communications professional, film maker and published writer with a keen interest in life.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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