Celtic Manager predicts end for FiFA & UEFA

Hello folks. How’s it going? Fine? So am I. Great. Thanks for asking.

Sometimes writing feels like talking to a wall. It’s quiet and lonely at times, but no matter what I say to the wall, it can’t lambast me back for the ridiculous things i say sometimes.

As ridiculous as saying that the end of the FiFA and the UEFA organizations might be close.

The FifA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904 on the backs of a need for structured global soccer. As such, FifA organized the first World Cup in 1930. What they did in the 26 years prior to the 1st World Cup, I haven’t a clue. In today’s time, FifA is responsible for overseeing the World Cup (including U-20 and U-17), the ambiguous and unneccessary Confederations Cup, the Club World Cup, the Futsal World Cup (indoor), and the fun and exciting Beach World Cup.

The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is the administrative and controlling body for European football. It represents the national football associations of Europe, runs Europe-wide national and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions. UEFA was founded on June 15, 1954 in Basel, Switzerland. The UEFA hosts tournaments like the EURO Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the less than appetizing UEFA Cup.

So in a nutshell, these are just regulatory oversight bodies. But they are powerful. They create the laws. And as anyone knows, whoever controls the law, controls the land.

It was reported today that the manager of Celtic FC, Gordon Strachan, had said that the FifA and the UEFA might one day, sooner than later, be replaced by a consortium of rich, powerful businessmen. Read: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=481729&cc=5901

It’s not that ridiculous to find agreement with him. Its certainly the trend right now. Foreign ownership of local club teams are at all time highs. A major club can trade their stock on the market like a corporation (Man Utd, Ajax) or a smaller team can opt to be bought-out by a foreigner with deep pockets (Chelsea haha…)

In any case, trend shows that ownership goes public.

Now, what does this have to do with the demise of FiFA and UEFA?

Why do we brush our teeth in the morning?

It stinks.

It’s no secret that the FIFA and UEFA already have internal clashes with the G-14, the organization of the most powerful and richest 14 European club teams. Often times, it is the G-14 that seems to influence the most control on the policies of FIFA and UEFA, and it makes one wonder if the FIFA and the UEFA is merely a handpuppet to the G-14.

After all, FIFA and the UEFA are merely regulatory oversight bodies. They don’t produce any income, supposedly. Yet, FIFA announced in April 2004 that it is expecting to earn $144 million profit on $1.64 billion in revenue between 2003 and 2006. Mainly through licensing rights of their member teams and players.

That’s big money.

And whenever there’s big money to be earned, there’s corruption behind the curtains.

So when enough teams are owned publicly by shareholders or privately by rich individuals, there might be a power overhaul. For example, why then, should a team be obliged to participate in a certain tournament, risking injury to key personnel, if there’s more money to be made elsewhere?

Imagine if the FA (Football Association of England) decides to increase its cash prize of the Carling Cup to whopping amounts and the English top clubs decide to pull out of the UEFA Champions League to compete for the now prestigious Carling Cup???

Think of the FIFA and the UEFA as the Labor Union. A union is nothing without its skilled laborers. Should each skilled laborer be contracted by an independent and rich sponsor, the union is rendered useless. The skilled laborer could then decide where he wants to work, at the behest of his new sponsor, for more money, than to put up with labor laws as set forth by the union.

The real folks in control will always be the rich and powerful.