Footing it - let's be a bit more transparent

I started these blogs in response to injustice over Brazil's hosting of the 2014 World Cup and FIFA corruption in giving the 2018 and 2022 competitions to Russia and Qatar respectively. The campaign against Qatar continues, with an estimated 7000 workers expected to die in the construction frenzy Qatar is going through to host the Cup. However, public pressure has had an impact - the country did agree to a package of reforms in November 2017 to deal with some of the abuse.

This time around for Russia, I've just managed to make it into the football fray for the last week of play, but will be doing a blog a day on social and political dimensions around football. It won't change the world, but it will extend my education, raise awareness for any readers (are there any out there) and maybe entertain with a bit of word play.

Earlier in this tournament, when Japan got through to the final 16 on the back of fewer yellow cards, I was tempted to say 'fair play'' pays off. Perhaps it was reflective of the country, which topped societal 'fair play' rankings that Catholic social justice agency Caritas ran for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. But when I read how Japan played out their final quarter against Poland - to avoid goals as well as yellow cards, I decided it was just bad sportsmanship. And they got their just desserts in the next round, bowing out to giant killers Belgium.

So - if the present countries remaining were ranked on more important matters than football skills, or fair play on the field, where would they stand, or sit?

Well, seeing as we're talking about corruption, the easiest place to start is Transparency International's Corruption Index, which placed Sweden and the UK (as a proxy for England) on top among those remaining in the World Cup. Shame then that either Sweden or England will be eliminated in the next quarter final overnight. And it's also worth noting a team that should be there, but isn't: New Zealand (undefeated in World Cup finals since 1986) were actually no 1 overall on Transparency's Index.

Ranking in TI Corruption Perceptions Index:
Sweden - 6
United Kingdom - 8
Belgium - 16
France - 23
(then there's a long way to go to ....)
Croatia - 57
(and even further ...........  to)
Russia - 135  
....out of 180 states.

Mmm - there's room for improvement there, Mr Putin.

For the good of the game - CONIFA

Well, the kick-off of the Euro 2016 football championships tomorrow at 7am, prompts thoughts again of justice and football. I may be watching parts of the Euro - FIFA does seem to be on its way to reform. But thought I would resurrect these blogs during the Euro for some erratic and unpredictable play - ie, I don't know when I may post a blog.

But thought I'd do a promo for that great FIFA alternative - the "Confederation of Independent Football Associations" (ConIFA), for national teams not under the auspices of FIFA – representing nations, minorities, isolated dependencies or cultural regions. "Our main goal is to give football outsiders overseen by FIFA or left behind by their mother country Football Association the chance to win their place on a global stage and advance footballwise and personally," says Sascha Düerkop, General Secretary.

ConIFA just completed their World Cup - and the final match report is glowing:

Abkhazia is tonight celebrating after a remarkable come from behind victory over Panjab saw them secure the 2016 World Football Cup. The hosts twice looked out of the game – firstly when they were trailing 1-0 in the 86th minute, and again when they were two penalties down in the shoot-out. But a stranger-than-fiction turn of events saw Abkhazia equalise to send the game to spot-kicks, and then complete a penalty great escape to triumph in Sukhum (capital of Abkhazia).

Watch highlights here.  Ok, so the crowds are muted - but at least they can stream onto the pitch at the final whistle!

Notes:  

Abkhazia is a partially recognised state on the edge of the Black Sea that emerged from the break-up of the Soviet Union.

The Panjab Football Association, though formed in Britain, aims to represents the Punjabi diaspora, who originate from the Punjab region of eastern Pakistan and northern India.

The final fling: Rain on the parade

Or – how to reduce your carbon footprint in a few easy steps.

Flooding in Whanganui.

Jacob Mancer via RNZ.

I know it’s mean to rain on the parade, but that’s what Mother Nature is doing as heavy rain threatens to turn a sell-out crowd at the U-20 FIFA finals in Auckland into a sodden one. 

Maybe (just like the Pope’s encyclical – Praised Be for that) this could be a watershed moment to consider the costs – environmental – of major sports events.

David Connor in the UK notes, just from the British football season, about 30 million journeys to and from stadia, many by car. Then there are the “thousands of tonnes of beer bottles, pie trays, soft drink cans, waste food, used tickets and merchandise wrapping mostly sent to landfill.”

Brendan Koerner, writing in the US Slate magazine on The hidden costs of heading to the stadium begins by wondering how much energy is burnt by stadium lights and the power required to "feed the fans", etc, but concludes that most of the environmental cost is that of fans travelling to and from the game – especially by car.

But it seems the scintillating Brazilians – off the pitch – have taken the lead on “sustainable football”, thanks to some UK technology (and some Anglo-Dutch petrochemical funding). The Gaurdian, in a look at Sustainability in football, says:

The London-based tech firm Pavegen has installed 200 of its “kinetic-harvesting” tiles into a local football pitch in the Rio’s Morro da Mineira neighbourhood. The 56mm tiles sit under the pitch’s Astroturf surface and flex fractionally every time a player takes a step. Each footstep generates around five watts per second. The system is supplemented by solar panels, which together help light the pitch and surrounding area for up to ten hours a night. 

The pitch, funded by oil company Shell, marks the largest application of the innovative tiles to date. Pavegen’s portfolio of projects also includes kinetic powered lighting for a pedestrian bridge at West Ham Tube Station, one of the access points to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

The same article highlights Real Madrid’s Dutch-made pitch that never needs watering, mowing or pesticide applications, and Gloucestershire’s Forest Green Rovers who have an organic football pitch, which needs no nitrogen-based fertilisers or chemicals.

But none of these superficial changes deals with the impact of fans travelling to the game, energy use and the superfluity of food and drink around the spectacle.

Meanwhile, as football fans settle down to watch Brazil play Serbia under lights in the U-20 final, about 4000 properties are without power in the southwest of the North Island, and 1000 are still without power in the South – due to the southerly storm that has moved up the country in the last two days.

Are super-sports just bread and circuses to distract us from the real issues?

The fall of Blatter’s House of Cards

The FIFA fallout is having reverberations all around the world – most notably in Brazil, where The Guardian reports that “the fall of the Blatter empire has unleashed a glorious turmoil that has set football legends against the kleptocrats who have long run the game.”

There are demands for the resignation of the current Brazil Football Confederation president, and some professional players are demanding major reform.

Perhaps the ghost of 1982 captain Sócrates (left), who promoted democracy on and off the field, is stalking the corridors of power. Says The Guardian:

Brazilian football has always had two very different sides, both of which have shaped the game at an international level. On the pitch, the seleçao – comprised mostly of players from poor communities – has won more World Cups than any other. Off the pitch, its executives – most of whom are from the country’s white elite – created a system of patronage and kickbacks that became the global model during the long reign of Blatter’s Brazilian predecessor, João Havelange, as Fifa president. 

Former national striker Romário, now a senator, launched a congressional inquiry into corruption in the sport in Brazil. “The resignation of Joseph Blatter as president of Fifa is the beginning of a new era for world football. All corrupt managers of the confederations, around the world, will feel his fall like a tsunami,” he said. 

Commentator Marília Ruiz said the impact of Blatter’s resignation was gigantic. “It’s like a house of cards, you take one and the others fall,” she said. “This debate isn’t going to die away. The police investigation has been open for years but this is a new chance. There have already been so many windows of opportunity lost, but this is the biggest. The gates have now been thrown open.” 

...Common Sense FC – a group of more than a thousand players who are calling for more transparency and accountability – say the crisis is an opportunity to tackle a host of problems facing football in Brazil, including poor attendances, huge levels of debt at most clubs and an irrational calendar of matches that leaves thousands of professional players unemployed for most of the year while the CBF and regional federations milk TV and sponsorship rights for millions.

“There are urgent measures of democratisation and transparency,” said Paulo André, the founder of Common Sense.

Others are more sceptical. “Endemic corruption in football won’t be resolved overnight, just with the mere resignation of Sepp Blatter. The entire structure that supports it is still in place,” said Alexandre Addor.

And regardless of what happens in the backroom and upper echelons, to many perhaps the only thing that counts is what happens on the field. Says Ruiz: “nothing could be worse than the 7-1” – referring to Brazil’s humiliating defeat to Germany in last year’s WC semi-final.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. - Luke 1:52

Football fans - walk away (unless you're being anti-sexist)

Photo: Moazzam Brohi

In an earlier blog I highlighted the Facebook campaign calling for a boycott of FIFA's main sponsors. But according to analysis today from the Globe and Mail, sponsors aint gonna walk away from FIFA unless the fans do too. Some quotes:

“People are not turning in their tickets to the Women’s World Cup, or saying they’re not going to watch the matches on TV. At the end of the day, the sponsors will follow the fans,” said Jim Andrews, senior vice-president at Chicago-based sports marketing firm IEG. “Until the consumers say we’re not going to support the sport because of what’s going on, the sponsors will follow the fans.” 

“FIFA has become a byword for shady dealings,” said Chris Renner, chief executive officer of Helios Partners, which markets sporting events around the world. “But the World Cup will always be bulletproof, there’s no question about it. It’s just too great a competition to even have the guys that run it screw it up. All you’ve got to basically do is get 11 players on each side and roll a ball out and the thing’s going to happen – and 60,000 people will show up.”

Mind you – some are urging people specifically to support the Women’s World Cup, because they get such a raw deal in the sport – and not just because of the astroturf some are being forced to play on in Canada. Read this article about sexism in ‘the beautiful game’, and and then maybe you can might feel ok about watching New Zealand v China tomorrow (11.30am our time) in the Women’s World Cup.

Please FIFA, can we have our Ball back?

We love football, but we abhor, and are embarrassed by, FIFA.

This is the slogan of NewFIFANow – a movement for change within football that was launched in January 2015. They background a lot of the issues that have been brought more to light since the arrests in Zurich of FIFA officials.

The group wants to achieving genuine, long-lasting change in the governance of world football. Their Charter is a demand for change “for everyone who loves football: fans, players, sponsors, broadcasters, those who work in media and who form our governments.” These are people who believe football can truly be a force for good, and not let those words be an empty, hollow slogan for yet-another money-grubbing multinational. They say on their website:

It is for everyone who is of the view that football deserves a world governing body that is free of corruption, mismanagement and self-interest.

It is for everyone who wants to see football governed by people who make decisions and take action in a transparent manner, and who are held accountable in the best interests of the sport and civil society. 

And it is for everyone who shares in the community of football around the world.

They have called on FIFA ‘to have the same level of transparency and accountability that most citizens expect of their governments, major institutions and organisations’. To get there they are seeking ‘an interim time-limited administration, led by an eminent person with a broad mandate to develop a new constitution, governance arrangements and policies and conduct new elections.’

And by jove – you know – I think they’ll get it. Or something like it. The ball is rolling – I don’t think anyone can stop it now. But where it will end up is anyone’s guess.

This whole FIFA debacle and unravelling gives me great cause for hope in regard to any form of corruption or injustice. Let’s keep the ball rolling.

Support NewFIFANow – sign the petition!

Turf wars - unequal playing fields

NZ v Canada at the Women's World Cup - Getty Images

With the Women's World Cup underway in Canada, I thought it was about time to highlight the injustices within FIFA - like the decision to play on artificial turf - a harder surface to play on, and which can lead to severe grazes.

Top female soccer players took FIFA to court about it, but the world body wouldn't even accept a compromise offer to have the 2015 Canadian tournament played on artificial grass until the semifinals, third-place and final matches.

Ultimately, the players dropped their legal fight, saying they were "doing what FIFA and CSA have proven incapable of: putting the sport of soccer first."