On May 29th Sepp Blatter will go head-to-head with Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, Michael van Praag of the Netherlands and former Portugal great Luis Figo, for the esteemed title of the President of FIFA.
Blatter, who will turn 79 before election day, is seeking a fifth term in office to extend his 17-year reign.
The veteran Swiss official, who has worked for FIFA since 1975, is strongly favoured to win. UEFA, which has 53 voting members, is the only one among six continental bodies actively opposing Blatter, encouraging candidates Price Ali and Figo to run against him. Blatter’s fourth rival Van Praag is also a member of UEFA’s executive committee.
Blatter’s reign
There is no question that the women’s game has progressed substantial amounts in the last few decades under Blatter’s reign, and not just in England where the top tier now attracts stars from overseas, but also on the international stage.
The total number of teams entering the World Cup has almost tripled since its conception in 1991, and it has taken just 24 years for the finals to expand from 12 teams to 24 teams – a feat which took five decades in the men’s game.
Participation is also at an all time high around the globe with the number of females getting involved in the game rising by 8.1m since the turn of the century.
But despite this progress with Blatter at the helm, the current FIFA President has not been without his fair share of controversy in terms of women’s football.
After claiming in 2004 that female players should “wear tighter shorts and low cut shirts to create a more female aesthetic” and attract more male fans, he also blundered his way through the appointment of a woman to Fifa’s executive committee for the first time by stating: “Say something ladies, you are always speaking at home, now you can speak here,” and describing candidate Moya Dodd as “not only good, but good-looking.”
The potential successors
So what do this year’s candidates promise for women’s football? More progression or more controversy?
Luis Figo opens his manifesto by saying: “Football has been my passion since I was a child. I was very lunch and extremely fortunate to have the chance to play and get training from a very young age. Unfortunately, this opportunity does not exist for most children in the world.
“My focus as FIFA President will be to make sure more children, boys and girls, get the same opportunity I had.”
To back up this statement, Figo lists one of his four key objectives as increasing participation of all ages and genders in grassroots football, and proposes to do this through two projects. The first is project “schools for footballs” where each FIFA member association will receive payments for involving football activities with children as part of that country’s regular school programme. The second is project “boys and girls for football” which will be allocated $209 million to fund the creation or enhancement of grassroots projects with the aim of increasing the number of registered boys and girls in each member association by 10% in the next four years.
Michael Van Praag’s manifesto makes for slightly better reading for the women’s game with the Dutch man stating he wishes to increase the representation of women at the highest executive and operational levels while taking steps to combat discrimination. He also promises to continue the good work FIFA has achieved in recent years for the women’s game.
But the stand-out winner of our vote? Prince Ali – who promises further investment and support for the women’s game from grassroots all the way up and better funding for women’s leagues and international events such as the World Cup. The FIFA vice-president also stresses the need to “focus on growing and developing women’s football in countries where it is currently under-represented”.
The Jordanian’s manifesto reads: “We need to acknowledge the importance of Youth and Women’s FIFA events and tournaments. When looking at the development of football and allocating appropriate development revenues, we need to give better support to Member Associations who invest in these areas and want to host these events.
“By investing more in these tournaments, and ensuring the hosting criteria are realistic and fit-for-purpose, we will increase their appeal and accessibility to potential host nations and attract new, younger audiences to the game.”
He further adds: “The women’s game is the largest growth area in football globally and further investment should form a core part of FIFA’s strategic plan.”
Here, here Prince Ali. Here, here.
