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Comment by runarberg | Hacker News Reader

I am not sure a replacement for Infantino is enough. It seems like FIFA has a culture of corruption and Infantino is merely the latest manifestation of said culture. Some serious reform and restructuring seem needed.

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Here’s a solution: bar FIFA from selling viewing rights to their competitions and allow any station or channel to stream for free. That would grow the global game.

Take away the money and FIFA doesn’t have much to bargain with. They need to remember they are a purely administrative organization.

> That would grow the global game.

The game is already as global as it gets, 1.5bn people watched the wc final…

So a minority of the human population?

Now consider time zones.

Standard Eastern Tribe

~2bn are under 12, ~1bn are over 65 so not really a minority :)

> The game is already as global as it gets

There is a tiny bit of room for expansion. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c5y03dermmeo:

“Football is almost non-existent on this Pacific island. Nauru has never fielded a team in an official international match and it has just one – hard sand – pitch.

While there is interest in big Premier League matches, and children wear Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo kits, any attempts to actually play football tend to be mocked, unless it's Aussie rules.”

(Nauru is about 21 km², 21,000 people)

Fifa is a reflection of the world. All members (nations) get a vote. Most countries are corrupt. Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa.

I am all in favor of a global revolution to overthrow capitalism with a solidarity of workers of the world. But I think we can have a non-corrupt FIFA without one.

Still there are plenty of world wide organizations that are less corrupt than fifa.

I'm actually not even sure I can think of an organisation more corrupt. Maybe the IOC is up there?

The FIA (motorsport governing body) is giving them a run for their money. Recently removed presidency term limits and made several other rule changes to prevent challengers. And like FIFA, despite the majority opinion seeming to be against the corruption the decisions get rubber stamped anyway.

The world is a reflection of the laws of physics. When complex self propagating systems coexist in an environment with limited material competition arises, and corruption is simply one inevitable result of that.

> Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa

To be a bit cynical on this, I'm going to say that UEFA is worried the international scene will infringe on the European league scene.

They've found something to be outraged about, but the reality is more about the threat to their own bottom line than it is about the international game.

This is probably at least partially true. And they know that if they get together with South America, they can easily replace FIFA with another governing structure.

I'm a bit surprised to be downvoted on this, except maybe that it's seen as an attack on Europe.

There have been other attempts at a league superior to the individual national leagues -- like a permanent champions league. Establishment of anything more regular at the international level would be one more way this could be accomplished.

Each European league (and leagues from other confederations) has a vested interest in keeping the World Cup not just "free" but rare as well.

The time to be on the high horse against FIFA isn't 2026, it was against he labor conditions in Qatar, or the corruption to award the 2018 and 2022 hosts, or any number of other things.

However correct they are, they only complain when it's against their own self interest.

> Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa

Do you know who Platini is?

This is only because Europe cares about soccer. If this was basketball, ice hockey or baseball then I don't think Europe would care and would be the country to bribe

> It seems like FIFA has a culture of corruption

I think any large multi-national organisation that deals with handing out events that generate vast sums of money inevitably succumbs to the rot.