Something rotten in the state of football

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/29/something-rotten-in-the-state-of-football

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How ironic that USA, one of the world’s newest soccer nations, has taken the lead in exposing what for many has been apparent for a long time (Report, 28 May). In 1973 I was the newly appointed director of Lilleshall National Sports Centre, where the England side did most of their group training sessions, Stanley Rous was the Fifa president, and Alf Ramsey our national team manager. It would be foolish to suggest that the national and international soccer garden was a simple bed of roses at that time. Indeed, there were already some murmurings about the influence of money in the game. That relative innocence has now so grimly disappeared.

Although overall interest in sport has not diminished, my enthusiasm for football has waned to a very low level. I was ever keen in those earlier years, but a number of my friends are now amazed that I do not have Sky TV and consequently miss many of the top games. My reasons were twofold. First, having had close working relationships with many governing bodies of sport at national level, I felt very strongly that some sold their souls to television, a general trend which was perhaps regrettable but understandable. The second was that I objected to Rupert Murdoch taking over the world. That football has proved to be far and away the worst of all of those examples is perhaps no surprise, but it is now very evident in the unethical ways in which our own domestic clubs flout all decent standards of behaviour, both sporting and financial.

Our FA must fight this corrupt behaviour at international level. A good start would be to withdraw from the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which has become a byword for corruption and a callous disregard for human lives. Let us urge our own crime investigators to follow the excellent and forthright example of the FBI in exposing the worst examples of this corruption. Sepp Blatter almost boasts that Fifa is not a public body, but a private entity operating under Swiss law, in strictest confidentiality. Then it’s high time we led the way in breaking away and joined with others to establish an honest organisation to rule our international game.John HammondLeek, Staffordshire

• David Goldblatt (Get rid of Blatter, but not Fifa, 29 May) alleges that there are plenty of reformist forces outside Europe. I was listening to the admirable Tim Vickery on the radio and he said Europe has to build alliances. But Goldblatt admits these forces are not in positions of official power. So unless the African and Asian officials adopt the attitude of turkeys voting for Christmas, nothing will change while Blatter is in power. Therefore the only way for Europe is to play hardball and threaten to organise its own competition in 2018, (inviting the South American nations) which will force the sponsors’ hands.Simon HunterBrookmans Park, Hertfordshire

• While it may be baffling to western Europeans that Sepp Blatter continues to have the support of large numbers of smaller countries, if looked at from their point of view it makes perfect sense. They can count on large grants for the promotion and support of football in their countries (although whether it is always used that way is certainly open to question) whereas, if the larger, more developed nations had their way, voting would be by population, so giving them much more say.

The smaller countries are only too aware what the upshot of this would be; most of the money would be diverted to already rich nations. If anyone doubts this, look at the Premier League; it grasps billions and then, scattering a few pennies to the lower divisions and, with extreme reluctance, crumbs to the grassroots, makes ridiculously spurious claims about its support for them.

No one should hold their breath for a principled withdrawal of any nation from Fifa organised events, not when there’s money at stake.Colin HarrisonChesterfield, Derbyshire

• Forget about sponsors putting pressure on Fifa. It is the BBC, ITV and other broadcasters who should seriously reconsider paying a further penny to the corrupt kleptocracy that is Fifa. It is utterly wrong that British TV licence payers’ money is handed over to such a disgusting organisation for rights to broadcast the World Cup and it needs to stop. In no other context would the funding with public money of what is essentially a crime syndicate be tolerated.Fergal QuinnLondon

• It beats me why football is so frequently referred to as “the beautiful game” (‘I saw bodies piled at Heysel’, G2, 28 May). I see nothing beautiful in a game that has a bunch of corrupt swindlers running its international competitions; nothing beautiful in a game where egotistical young men earn grotesque amounts of money; nothing beautiful in a game with a history of violence; nothing beautiful in a game whose fans frequently make travelling on public transport unbearable; nothing beautiful about a game where sexist abuse is shouted during a match to a female medic; nothing beautiful in game whose supporters have made me deeply ashamed to be British when living abroad.Patricia RiggCrowthorne, Berkshire