Both Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA since 1998, and Michel Platini, the head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and FIFA vice president, have been suspended 90 days from their duties.

With Blatter suspended, the president of FIFA job goes to Issa Hayatou from Cameroon. Hayatou has ruled African soccer for 27 years. Like many people who have had any association with FIFA, Hayatou comes with his own baggage.  The major controversy surrounding him is corruption allegations and a reprimand by the International Olympic Committee.

The interim leader of UEFA will be Angel Maria Villar, the head of the Spanish federation . But, Villar also brings heavy baggage. He remains at risk of being sanctioned by the FIFA ethics committee in its investigation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests.

Villar is not the only person being investigated for that bidding.  Several representatives of FIFA have been accused of taking bribes to vote for Russia’s bid for 2018 and Qatar’s in 2022.

Dishonesty and corruption seem to be the two biggest problems plaguing FIFA. The World Cup is the biggest event FIFA hosts, but the voting process may have been compromised by these officers. Many other countries that bid on these two World Cups may have missed the chance to host it, let alone bid fairly on it, because of the alleged wrongdoing of FIFA officials.

FIFA will hold an emergency meeting on October 20 in Zurich, Switzerland to discuss February’s presidential election. I hope all the issues can be resolved at this meeting.

Hopefully FIFA can elect a new one devoid of corruption or greed.

Blatter has been ruining the game of soccer since the beginning of his presidency and it needs to stop. As a student athlete who plays soccer at Marywood, this is very personal for me. I hope the sport that I play can change for the better and leave its incredibly corrupt past behind.

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