How The FIFA Scandal Could Affect The Rest Of The World

In the wake of the recently published reports of the massive wave of corruption in world football governing body FIFA, football fans and governments are angered. Even though there are several people who are willing to help and there are several football federations and governments that are investigating the corrupt practices there is undoubtedly a long list of unfortunate things yet to happen. Recently several questions have been answered however the following are likely ramifications to the corruption issues.

The Russian Status Change in World Football

The upcoming 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia, however, should UEFA actualise the threat of withdrawing from FIFA, the Russians would be left in a rather precarious situation. It would mean that should Russia decide to host the World Cup, it would be left with no other choice but to quit UEFA. Should the Kremlin decide to quit UEFA and given the country’s geographical location, it would mean that Russia would have to make a move. It would have to apply and hope to be invited to be part of the Asian Football Confederation. Should they be granted the invite, it would be beneficial for nations signed up to the AFC region, both for financial and popularity reasons. However, one wonders what would Russia get from such a deal? Departing the European championships, especially now that the country has a club level on UEFA Champions League and joining the AFC is not a great option for the Kremlin.

New Changes to the Game of Football

Currently, the IFAB (International Football Association Board) determines any potential changes as well as additional football laws. As separate as FIFA is from IFAB, the former has a position on the latter’s board carrying 50% of the voting power. The board’s derived from Great Britain makeup 50% and should UEFA withdraw from FIFA, then FIFA would lack a majority in its body and thus would be affected in the voting of new laws. We would be left wondering whether UEFA would prefer going their separate way and forming a new body and have a say in the formation of new laws. Again one is left to wonder what if UEFA decided to part ways with FIFA, would it mean that Northern Irish, Scottish, English and Welsh board would also have to pull out of the IFAB? However, it is unlikely that it would have two different codes for association football. However, countries in UEFA would have to follow the rules given by UEFA as the rest of the World prescribed to a different standard altogether.

The Players’ Jeopardy

European-based players would also suffer from the wrath of a split as they would not likely take part in FIFA World Cup tournaments. They would rather remain in their home continent and participate in UEFA Champions League and European Championship games. The players that would be hampered most are football players that were born out of the UEFA Zone and players that don’t have European passports. The rules for them to be included in UEFA games would potentially be adjusted to be stiffer. Perhaps what we may witness would be players moving to the UEFA side and get a ban from participating in FIFA events. Clubs in Europe would also be affected not knowing whether they would be asked to let go of their non-European players. In general, a World Cup event that would exclude the best players from non-European countries who play for UEFA clubs not featuring in the tournament would just be outright sad. Moreover, a World Cup event without Europe’s great countries taking part would just be outright awful, why? Because many players playing in the European leagues would choose to play for the clubs as they pay better than their countries. In summary, these are just some of the ramifications FIFA is faced with, should the world governing body fail to take measures to restore its image!

This article is courtesy of author and sports analyst John Hawthorne. John is not just a writer of sports he is also a sports analyst for U.S based sports system Simply The Bets. Follow him now on Twitter : @johnhawthorne82

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