Football is too big a game to be affected by the FIFA corruption scandal and the game will survive through this turbulent phase and continue to thrive, unfortunately FIFA will too.
While it's good that at least someone decided to take the bull by the horns, many are thinking what took so long to unearth corrupt practices that went on uninterrupted under the FIFA banner.
Results of the FIFA presidential elections will be known in a few hours from now and the opinion remains polarized, largely based on arm-twisting tactics, over whether Sepp Blatter should get a fifth term or Prince Ali turn the tables on a 17-year reign.
Good time to enter into a Q&A with some of the IBNLive.com users as many are unsure about how, if it does at all, affects India; why AIFF has still not released a statement; and where does the game go from here.
Azhar Ali: What do you think India's stand should be on the FIFA corruption scandal? Why hasn't the AIFF issued a statement yet?
Digvijay: Indian sports administrators believe in status quo. Why should they rock the cradle! Sepp Blatter has been very good for India. Despite almost no footballing pedigree, of late the AIFF is flush with FIFA funds. This is how Blatter operates. By taking the World Cup to Asia, Africa and South America, he has destroyed the power of UEFA. The Club World Cup was held in Morocco for the last two years. All this may be under the argument of taking football across the World but what it also does is create vote banks. Did you know that the AIFF headquarters in Delhi is funded by FIFA? We also have a Under-17 World Cup allotted to us. Why do you think there is no statement against Blatter? The same AIFF backed Chautala and Bhanot in the 2012 IOA polls that led to the IOC suspension.
Barinder Singh: Will this (FIFA corruption scandal) in anyway hit India scheduled to host the U-17 World Cup in 2017?
Digvijay: Nothing will happen to the U-17 WC. The tournament has been allotted. FIFA moved the 2022 WC to winter but did not call for a re-vote on Qatar. So no danger to that tournament.
Hemant Hegde: What benefits India the most - Blatter remaining president or Prince Ali taking over?
Digvijay: If this question is to be answered honestly and without being affected by what is happening over the last few days, then it is Blatter staying President. Prince Ali contested the elections for Asian Football head and lost. AIFF didn't back him then. Blatter has backed AIFF with money and the WC.
Prashant Tiwari: Is the US trying to meddle in FIFA Affairs?
Digvijay: Of course, it is. And perhaps good that someone is taking on the behemoth that is FIFA. But obviously some alarm bells have been triggered somewhere that has alerted the US authorities. It is not that FIFA has been clean. Rumours of corruption and bribery have been on for a while. How do you explain Jack Warner, the influential vice-president of FIFA being charged with corruption, resigning and then FIFA dropping the enquiry against him? FIFA should have taken a leaf out of the IOC book when Salt Lake hit. You just cannot be seen to be doing something but have to do something.
Rohini Shinde: What will be the fate of the officials arrested in the scandal?
Digvijay: Law will take its own course. Six of those arrested have already filed appeals against extradition to the US. Almost all of them are not US citizens. They can argue they did not commit any crime on US territory. They are not Swiss citizens as well. This could be a long drawn affair.
Madhav Gupta: Do you think Blatter too is responsible for corruption since he has been the president since 1998?
Digvijay: Not sure Blatter as President authorised people to give or take bribes. But he seems to have turned a blind eye to what his coterie was doing. And in that case you can either think of him as an accomplice or incompetent. Draw your own conclusions.
Alex Rowe: How will this scandal impact world football?
Digvijay: Not sure world football cares. Football is too big a game to be affected by this. No one is questioning the exploits of Ronaldo and Messi. Yes, there is a hue and cry over the 2022 World Cup being played in winter in Qatar. What will pinch FIFA is the pullout of top sponsors. But again look at it objectively. They are sitting on cash reserves in excess of 1 billion USD. Television rights for one FIFA World Cup can sustain most sports in the Olympic umbrella. FIFA will go on, the popularity of football ensures that. Despite all this tamasha, I will be watching the FA Cup final on Sunday. The fan ensures football will survive and thrive. Unfortunately, FIFA will too.
Peter D'costa: Does this mean none of the sport is clean around the world?
Digvijay: The sport is mostly clean if you look at the World Cup or the EPL or Bundesliga. Question marks are always there over certain matches in Serie A and La Liga but that is over the actions of individual players. I do not think anywhere an entire team fixes a match. The people running the sport are not clean (not all of them but some as these arrests have shown). What is great to see is that there is no charge that the arrested people influenced decisions at a game. They fixed allegedly where the World Cup would be played and contracts for the Copa America, but no games were fixed. That would have been devastating in my opinion.
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