Sepp Blatter and FIFA Corruption - A Sense of Deja Vu for N Srinivasan?
Separated by a continent and a generation, Sepp Blatter and N Srinivasan have uncanny similarities in the way their careers have gone. However, while one has suffered the ignominy of expulsion, lost and found his way, the other continue to revel in the razzmatazz.
May 29, 2015 - In the middle of the corruption scandal Sepp Blatter told the FIFA Congress - "I cannot monitor everyone who are involved. If people want to do wrong, they will hide it" - suggesting that he does not take responsibility for the latest scandal to hit FIFA. (Blatter Remains Defiant Before FIFA Election)
November 15 - An embattled N Srinivasan, the former BCCI chief affirmed, just hours after the Supreme Court decided to name him in the Indian Premier League corruption scandal, "The Honourable Supreme Court has not said anything against me. I also do not think there is any evidence (against me). If there was anything in the report, the order would have been different".
Two incredibly powerful sports administrators of two most sought after sports - football and cricket have continued to remained defiant in the face of adversity. They have smartly managed to mask the dodgy details and influence cunning sports officials to swing votes for them. (Prince Hussein Out to Wrestle FIFA From Sepp Blatter)
The raids and subsequent arrests on Wednesday night is a searing indictment of long pending charges of racketeering, bribery and kickbacks in FIFA. While Sepp Blatter refused to be cowed down by the happenings around him, he called for an emergency meeting of the six confederations of FIFA, to get a confidence vote ahead of the real voting. (Blatter Meets Heads of FIFA Confederations)
The sequence of events bear an uncanny resemblance with the happenings post May 16, 2013 when Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meyiappan was arrested on charges of betting and spot fixing in the IPL. N Srinivasan kept pushing justice and remained well entrenched in his chair of BCCI Chief, till a Supreme Court order in March 2014, forced him to 'step- aside'. And in due course he made the term 'step-aside' famous in the Indian legal fraternity.
Sure enough, Mr Srinivasan did not know that his son-in-law was betting and he told the BCCI Working Committee much the same thing as Blatter told his colleagues, which was about people in the wrong wanting to conceal it.
© AFP
Both the heads have refused to give in. The public has rejected them, the media has harangued them but the administrators have continued to exercise bigger influence and power. They have controlled votes with the tried and tested methods of cash for votes and by quelling voices of dissent.
While Indian cricket's folklore does not have stories about Srinivasan doling out cash right at the start, it is common knowledge how he distributed favours (both in cash and kind), spied on state associations to keep votes in control.
Apparently Blatter learnt to give money and attention to smaller and ignored nations from his predecessor, the Brazilian Joao Havelange. In 'How they Stole the Game', David Yallop writes that $50,000 were handed out in cash to African delegates in Paris before Blatter's first presidential election in 1998.
Despite allegations, there have been no hard evidence against Sepp Blatter. Hence, he remains in firm control of FIFA. Much like N Srinivasan's control over erstwhile BCCI Working Committee. It took Supreme Court to bar him from fighting the home-board elections.
Despite BCCI slipping away, Srinivasan used his position to set his foot in International Cricket Council and eventually control it. He masterminded the changing of ICC's constitution to tilt the balance of power towards the richer nations on the cricket map. He continued his dominance in the ICC even as the Supreme Court of India continued its investigations into the spot fixing and betting scandal.
Blatter may have had to pay for his daughter's limousine bills but unlike Srini's, his did not land him in any real trouble. He has been lucky to get away even when the spotlight has been on him.
These administrators separated by decades and a continent are known for their love for high life, glamour and the gaze of the cameras. While Srini has borne the blemishes for it, Blatter till now has remained unscathed.
But for how long?