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FIFA Scandal: Why Africa Still Backed Sepp Blatter At The Ballot

FIFA Scandal: Why Africa Still Backed Sepp Blatter At The Ballot

If you read most of the world’s media, Sepp Blatter’s ability to hang on to power at Fifa is nothing short of miraculous. After years of negative headlines, the frenzy has reached fever pitch in the wake of the US allegations of corruption at the highest level in football – even though Mr Blatter himself has not been implicated.

And running through all this coverage is a theme – bemusement that much of the football world keeps voting for him.

Nowhere is Sepp Blatter’s support stronger than across Asia and Africa. So why, as they troop into the Fifa congress hall in Zurich, are most of the representatives from those two continents preparing to vote for him again?

Here’s about as succinct an answer as you’re going to get – from Amaju Pinnick, newly elected president of the Nigerian Football Federation, talking to the BBC on Thursday: “Blatter feels Africa, he sees Africa and he has imparted so much – a lot of developmental programmes.

“Without Blatter we wouldn’t enjoy all the benefits we enjoy today from Fifa. What Blatter pushes is equity, fairness and equality among the nations. We don’t want to experiment.”

Development? Benefits? Equity? We’re talking about two things really – the first is concrete investment, often literally so. The second is respect.

If you go to Fifa’s website, search for the “development globe”. You’ll get a jazzy tool which lets you spin the world around, with clickable symbols corresponding to every little project Fifa has carried out in recent years – all of them under Sepp Blatter.

I clicked at random on Chad – not one of Africa’s footballing powerhouses.

Since 2011, according to Fifa, Chad has benefited from 26 projects undertaken by the world governing body. We’re talking about artificial pitches, a technical centre, a new HQ for the federation – but also education seminars on marketing, refereeing, grassroots football and so on. The list is long.

That pattern is repeated across Africa and around the world.

Read more at Business Ghana