How Would You Reform World Football/Soccer?

[LuigiVercotti]

Okay, so aside from various friends of Putin and Roman Abramovich, or devotees of the football phenomenon that is Qatar the results from the 2018/2022 vote have been pilloried by everyone from RobH to Obama. Question is for all of us who thought the vote was about as honest as a French draw over Ireland how would you want to see world football reformed? Break away from FIFA? Reconstruct from within? Take Septic Blather and give him a penalty shot right up the back door?

Certainly one of the first and best options would be to get rid of the current bunch of ex-co members and start afresh, perhaps with an election of a larger group/committee voted on by an assembly of delegates from all international FAs. Also introduce fixed terms of only four years for every member? Maybe there needs to be a break up of the continental federations as well (certainly splitting away the Middle East from Asia would reduce the power and influence of the oil rich emirates such as Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, plus UEFA seems to have a vision of its own grandeur that perhaps eclipses FIFA).

Thoughts? Ideas?

[Triffle]

Absolutely agree that Asia needs to be split. Syria has more in common with Spain than Japan and Beirut is closer to Washington than it is to Dili. The Middle East needs its own Confederation; including Central Asia, Iran and maybe the Indian Subcontinent. Meanwhile Oceania can merge with the rest of Asia.

More radically, it woud be nice (admittedly as someone who doesnt have a great interest in actually watching this sport) to see a break away federation led by England and the USA with Australia also. New Zealand, Canada, the other Home countries, the Carribbean islands and the South Pacific islands can all join and then they can bribe some African countries joining also by investing in football. maybe the Benelux will feel disillusioned as well and join. that scenario would be exciting to watch unfold!

[Detroit]

#1, they should create a Middle East organization. I don't know why the Middle East African countries go with the Asian Middle East Countries(minus Israel and Turkey) because they have all in common with each other. Qatar doesn't identify as Asian. Yet they host Asian Cup. AFC is a Middle Eastern. They should have their own federatoin.

And Oceania has to stay the way it is, just to give the small nations a chance. But put NZ in Asia.

And for voting, just give every single FA a vote. I know there would be about 200 voters, but harder to corrupt 101 voters than it is to corrupt 12. hard to say, but an idea

[baron-pierreIV]

Have half-time figure skating exhibition numbers!!

[Triffle]

#1, they should create a Middle East organization. I don't know why the Middle East African countries go with the Asian Middle East Countries(minus Israel and Turkey) because they have all in common with each other. Qatar doesn't identify as Asian. Yet they host Asian Cup. AFC is a Middle Eastern. They should have their own federatoin.

And Oceania has to stay the way it is, just to give the small nations a chance. But put NZ in Asia.

And for voting, just give every single FA a vote. I know there would be about 200 voters, but harder to corrupt 101 voters than it is to corrupt 12. hard to say, but an idea

it wouldn't seem fair for England, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil to have the same "worth" in voting as kiribati, cape verde, saint lucia and, dare I say, Qatar!

[Rob2012]

Giving the Middle East their own confederation will elevate their sub-region the the point where they will believe they should be getting the world cup every 20 years. I think there are better ways of reducing the power of the petro-dollar to influence the vote without singling them out for special treatment.

• Get rid of the cancers from the game' Blatter, Warner, Valcke, the ISL three. Whislt the former clearly loves the game and would, without the politics, probably do the right thing for it, he's in the same boat as scum like Warner now given that his presidency depends on such people.
  

This is the hardest part and may require anything and everything from complete press intrusion into the inner workings of FIFA (to the point where they're unable to carry out their normal work), to nations actually pulling out of the organisation.

Another interesting suggestion I've heard is for organisations like the FA and the Premier League to simply ignore dictats from above on issues like goalline technology. Just introduce them, do it anyway. Bring in all the things FIFA object to which we think are good for the game. Other countries will follow if they're good and FIFA's power will be instantly reduced.

The trouble is the first step is by far the most difficult and the one nations will be most reluctant to take. But without it none of this can happen easily:

• Set up an INDEPENDENT Ethics Committee with the power to properly act on any indiscretions (what are the odds the two suspended members will be back within a year?)
  
• Set up a much larger voting block with power given to nations proportionally, perhaps by their FIFA ranking. I know this isn't perfect but it's the best we have and it's a good GENERAL guide as to how much clout nations should have within FIFA. At the moment T&T has more power than almost any other nation on earth.
  
• I suppose you'd then need to create an independent body to ensure the FIFA rankings aren't skewed!
  
• Have a shortlisting process for bids much like the IOC. Our sports minister strongly believes only THREE ExCo members ordered copies of FIFA's Evaluation Report and two of those to hand to their bid teams.
  
• Televise the vote, at the very least that will stop whoever is leading FIFA under the new regime making a speech about the "evils of the media" prior to it happening.
  
• Shorten the time between bids being entered and the vote so there is less chance of collusion and favours
  
• Do not allow bidding nations' ExCo members to vote until their nation is eliminated
  
• Treat them like children; do not allow them to visit bidding countries. I don't want to see our PM wining and dining people like Warner ever again.
  
• To counter the damage this may cause, create a number of trade-fair events as the IOC have done in which bids can talk to members in an open environment.
  
• NEVER, EVER have two votes at once again.
  

I'm sure I can think of more. Just about everything that could have been wrong was wrong with this process.

It is, by the way, only the ExCo we're talking about; the upper echelons. I have no reason not to believe the many people below that are doing a great job in developing the game, after all it is more global and more widely watched than ever before. What ever happens, they musn't throw the baby out with the putrid, ****-filled bathwater. In fact, I'm sure I read somewhere that many at that level in the organisation would love nothing more than to see complete reform of the ExCo because they believe it harms their work and are, quite frankly, embarrassed by their superiors.

[arwebb]

My immediate reaction when I read this question was "Where the hell do I start", as there appears to be so much wrong with the game at the moment. But if we start anywhere, we have to start at the very top. As I have said elsewhere, the current leadership of FIFA is completely and utterly discredited. This decision, and their attitude to goodness knows how many other issues, should lead all of us to the clear and obvious conclusion that, while some of them at least may care about the game, few or none of them actually understand what the game needs in the early years of the 21st century and are completely out of touch with its needs and the aspirations of all its stakeholders.

Let us just consider the make-up of the FIFA executive committee. All of them are men. A third of them are elderly, only one or two under 50. Only a handful have played the game to any notable standard and not enough of them appear to have experienced the sharp end of football in their own countries. Put simply, then, this is a group of people who, taken as a whole, have little feel and understanding of the game and cannot take it forward into the 21st century. One only has to consider the backward attitudes expressed by their president and vice-president - who is also the president of UEFA - on the issue of goalline technology as a case in point.

So what is to be done? In an ideal world, this executive committee would be swept away en masse and a new committee elected. At the very least, though, executive committee members should only serve a maximum of two fixed terms of five years each. The same rules would apply to the president. For too long, it seems that executive committee members have regarded membership of that body as a position for life. They have become stale and set in their ways and the game has suffered as a result.

Similarly, key decisions over the future of the game must be made by a bigger decision-making body. The FIFA Congress would be the obvious place for this. After all, it was the Congress who decided World Cup hosts for a long time. But in order for good decisions to be made, the Congress needs more than simply weight of superior numbers. It needs people within it who have been involved at the sharp end of the game, who can bring their knowledge, experience and expertise to hand to inform, educate and influence the game where it so badly needs it. So the Congress would also include former players, managers and referees (ideally people who have recently retired or still active in the case of managers) to ensure that key football decisions are made by football people.

At the same time, however, FIFA has become utterly detached from the people who should be at the very heart of the game - the fans. Fans' groups must have the opportunity to put over the views and concerns of ordinary supporters, particularly in the light of host nation decisions which obviously do not have their interests in the forefront.

Rob has covered most of the rest of the ground that I would want to do. But the bottom line in all this is that FIFA has to open up and has to let go of some of its power. If national associations believe things can be done, such as the introduction of goalline technology to improve the game, they must be allowed to get on with it. In any other walk of life, a cock-up as glaring as Frank Lampard's goal not being given in South Africa would have led to something being done about it the very next day. Not in football, though. The message has to be clear - FIFA must adapt or die.

[LuigiVercotti]

One aspect that should definitely be looked at is abandoning the continental rotation policy, insofar as it elevates certain bidding nations into a position of power and certainty that frankly the quality of their bid may not merit, whilst discouraging other more capable bidding nations from hosting. Take as a case in point the 2026 or 2030 selections (which nominally should go to a CONCACAF and/or CAF region nation). Is it fair and for the benefit of the game that a potential English, Australia, Iberian, Japanese whatever bid be instantly a non-runner simple because it is North America & the Caribbean turn four years from now? And what happens in 2030? Does MaFIFA send the game back to South Africa, try Morocco or hope through some miracle another country can pull together the economic and social development to provide the right and proper stage for a mutually beneficial WC?

The technical management and aspects of the game are certainly another issue that needs addressing, and the dead hand of the aged, biased and overly political leaders of MaFIFA needs removal a.s.a.p. There has been a stench about issues such as goal line technology and diving since the days of the 'hand of god' if not earlier...Thierry Henry's handball and the non-English goal against Germany are just symptoms of a systemic failure of MaFIFA for decades, and perhaps it does need individual FAs to introduce things like smart balls, video replays, harsher on ground penalties against simulation etc etc. Do this in combination with the major broadcasters of the game in key markets and MaFIFA will be dragged kicking and screaming to wherever the ratings and the money is.

Another suggestion which diverges or is different from others posted so far is get Septic Blather's augean stables out from under the protection of Swiss law. The simple way to do this; shift them from Zurich to another city and country that has far more proactive or protective laws when it comes to whistleblowers and the investigation of corruption. Part of the reason why the IOC lost in the war against the criticism of its corrupt ways brought by Andrew Jennings and others of his ilk is that in the US they lost much of the impunity that was given to them back in Switzerland. Imagine how much more a new FIFA based say in Sweden, Canada, Australia, Germany, US etc etc could be if instead of using Swiss law and Swiss financial jurisdictions they were subject to the same scrutiny as other public bodies are in those countries.

[baron-pierreIV]

Another suggestion which diverges or is different from others posted so far is get Septic Blather's augean stables out from under the protection of Swiss law. The simple way to do this; shift them from Zurich to another city and country that has far more proactive or protective laws when it comes to whistleblowers and the investigation of corruption. Part of the reason why the IOC lost in the war against the criticism of its corrupt ways brought by Andrew Jennings and others of his ilk is that in the US they lost much of the impunity that was given to them back in Switzerland. Imagine how much more a new FIFA based say in Sweden, Canada, Australia, Germany, US etc etc could be if instead of using Swiss law and Swiss financial jurisdictions they were subject to the same scrutiny as other public bodies are in those countries.

Not gonna happen. #1 - - Geo- and geo-politically, Zurich is at the heart of the #1 football market in the world; #2 - he's Swiss -- so I think moving the House of FIFA elsewhere is moot. Of course, they could set up a Summer Home in the Cayman Islands, yaknow.

[Faster]

I know some people won't like seeing St. Lucia have the same power that Spain would, but host country decisions should be made by the entire FIFA Congress, with every member that took part in the previous World Cup having a vote. So for 2018 there would be just over 190 members.

[Mau2010]

CONCACAF needs reestructuration too, for me they should stop giving the Gold Cup venue to USA only and think in letting other countries to host it, that's why in part some of our countries have ugly stadiums while USA and Mexico have all those world class stadiums who have even hosted World Cup finals.

Of course I'm not excluding federations from their responsibility, but if they were given the chance to have an important event in their lands they would be more motivated to invest in their football infrastructure and develop the sport even more. Lately most Caribbean World Cup Qualyfying matches have been played in cricket stadiums, why? Because the football or athletics venues look old and mistreated, some of them don't even have basic things that FIFA requires like numbered seats and even in some cases they have fields and goal lines smaller than required. (That's why for example official games can't be played in Belize)

Of course Trinidad and Tobago is an exception, since they organized two FIFA competitions and have stadiums in very great conditions, but sadly that's just because Jack Warner has a lot of power in FIFA being CONCACAF's president.

Another thing is that they should do their draws live and in front of the participating teams' members and media, I guess it's kinda suspiscious that they do a draw recorded at a small television studio (look at the video to see what I mean) instead of an auditory where media and club members and supervisors can be present.

[Rafa]

A crap hole ONE CITY bid like Doha gets to host in 2022 but great bids from Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, England and others with great cities get

Qatar 2022 represents another new low point for FIFA, and is a smack in the face of those that have worked their butts off to bid and host and will still host e.g. South Africa and Brazil.

As a first step more than 22 need to vote and a shortlist like that of the IOC would have defeated the Qatar bid.

So essentially any crap hole country can bid and if they pay for enough votes can host.

Then theres the corrupt voting members who have been almost openly corrupt for decades to the point that they don't see anything wrong with what they are doing.

The CAF president needs to be replaced with people with integrity and knowledge like Danny Jordaan.

[baron-pierreIV]

I know some people won't like having St. Lucia to have the same power of Spain but host country decisions should be made by the entire FIFA Congress, with every member that took part in the previous World Cup has a vote. So for 2018 there would be just over 190 members.

Oh that's going to be an EVEN bigger zoo than the IOC. I think maybe 45 members would not skew the decisions too much.

As a matter of fact, I think for the IOC, they should drop it down to around 75. Their 115 is also too unwieldy.

[Sir Rols]

One aspect that should definitely be looked at is abandoning the continental rotation policy, insofar as it elevates certain bidding nations into a position of power and certainty that frankly the quality of their bid may not merit, whilst discouraging other more capable bidding nations from hosting. Take as a case in point the 2026 or 2030 selections (which nominally should go to a CONCACAF and/or CAF region nation). Is it fair and for the benefit of the game that a potential English, Australia, Iberian, Japanese whatever bid be instantly a non-runner simple because it is North America & the Caribbean turn four years from now? And what happens in 2030? Does MaFIFA send the game back to South Africa, try Morocco or hope through some miracle another country can pull together the economic and social development to provide the right and proper stage for a mutually beneficial WC?

A great summation of why rotation doesn't work in the long term and why the the likes of the IOC could never explicitely adopt it (even if Europe's back in the picture again in 2030). A bit of affirmative action can be justified in the odd case, but it's unsustainable as an ongoing rule. But for FIFA the whole process only ever been about shoring up Sepp's power base anyway, and the goalposts have shifted whenever it's suited him/them anyway. With eight years till the next decision I wouldn't put any bets on what the formula that's going to be in place by then anyway. FIFA will institute what suits them and whoever's in charge.

Another suggestion which diverges or is different from others posted so far is get Septic Blather's augean stables out from under the protection of Swiss law. The simple way to do this; shift them from Zurich to another city and country that has far more proactive or protective laws when it comes to whistleblowers and the investigation of corruption. Part of the reason why the IOC lost in the war against the criticism of its corrupt ways brought by Andrew Jennings and others of his ilk is that in the US they lost much of the impunity that was given to them back in Switzerland. Imagine how much more a new FIFA based say in Sweden, Canada, Australia, Germany, US etc etc could be if instead of using Swiss law and Swiss financial jurisdictions they were subject to the same scrutiny as other public bodies are in those countries.

Another excellent suggestion, though I agree with Baron, the sports admins are too entrenched in their Alpine strongholds to be moved too easily. There's more chance of the Swiss tightening their laws, which I thought there had at least been a bit of politicking about. But, again as Baron intimated, one wonders how far the Swiss could go before they all lobbed off quickly to the Caymans or Cook Islands. Still, it'd almost be fitting if they were forced to do that and end up becoming neighbours to narco barons and arms dealers.

[arwebb]

The FA is starting the fightback, according to today's Sunday Telegraph.

May the revolution begin!

[LuigiVercotti]

A great summation of why rotation doesn't work in the long term and why the the likes of the IOC could never explicitely adopt it (even if Europe's back in the picture again in 2030). A bit of affirmative action can be justified in the odd case, but it's unsustainable as an ongoing rule. But for FIFA the whole process only ever been about shoring up Sepp's power base anyway, and the goalposts have shifted whenever it's suited him/them anyway. With eight years till the next decision I wouldn't put any bets on what the formula that's going to be in place by then anyway. FIFA will institute what suits them and whoever's in charge.

Another excellent suggestion, though I agree with Baron, the sports admins are too entrenched in their Alpine strongholds to be moved too easily. There's more chance of the Swiss tightening their laws, which I thought there had at least been a bit of politicking about. But, again as Baron intimated, one wonders how far the Swiss could go before they all lobbed off quickly to the Caymans or Cook Islands. Still, it'd almost be fitting if they were forced to do that and end up becoming neighbours to narco barons and arms dealers.

Thanks Rols and yes, I do agree that this is all a pipe dream regarding the movement of the football robber barons out of their Zurich Fueher's Bunker. Sad to say as soon as you have a sport's body HQ'ed in Switzerland (or indeed the Middle East or Caribbean) like a tax shelter the chance of probity and moral responsibility being guiding maxims is reduced to nil.

As another potential reform (and again a hypothetical proposition that would not be sustainable in the world of MaFIFA realpolitik) why not look at a permament home or homes for the WC? If the bid process is all about obtaining a new and expensive set of venues for yet another country to hold a tournament that may not actually benefit the host, plus the process is morally and financially compromised, do away with the bid process altogether and say from now on the WC will be held in nations A, B or see for the next 60 years or whatever. Maybe make Germany, SA, Japan, Brazil and the US custodians of the WC in their continental groupings and cycle through them. Then no one would be able to subvert the hosting process as Qatar has done with egregious politicking and fiscal largesse at the expense of the key constituents for world football (the fans and the players).

[Rob2012]

World Cup 2018: stung FA to start revolt against Sepp Blatter

The Football Association will launch a behind-the-scenes revolt this week aimed at unseating Fifa president Sepp Blatter and making the World Cup bidding process more democratic, following England’s 2018 bid humiliation in Zurich.

A senior FA official will begin calling international counterparts to test support for root-and-branch reform of world football’s governing body. The FA wants greater transparency at Fifa, including making the process for selecting World Cup hosts more democratic.

FA general secretary Alex Horne will ring Fifa members he believes will support the calls for change. That will include football authorities in the US and Australia – who lost out to Qatar in the 2022 Cup bid – and also Spain and Portugal who were defeated in their 2018 bid. Other allies will also be sought.

It is understood the FA – while wishing to stir up a protest – has no desire to lead the revolt and will hope to find other Fifa members who have lost faith in Blatter to run the campaign against him.

Blatter is expected to stand for re-election next year and it is likely the FA and others will seek to find a suitable challenger who can unseat him in a vote.

The FA’s move reflects growing anger over England’s failure to win more than one outside vote for its 2018 bid.

They have accused Blatter of steering Fifa delegates away from England. It is claimed Blatter told delegates before the vote: “Remember what the English media did” – referring to exposés of alleged fraud.

The FA acknowledges it may be difficult to unseat Blatter, who has created a strong power base since first being elected in 1998, but hopes it will find allies among other defeated bidding nations amid rumours about collusion and horse-trading of votes.

Chuck Blazer, the American representative on Fifa’s executive committee, has already supported the call for reform.

“In the beginning of this process, I thought the executive committee was the right body to make the host decision,” he said.

“But, in the end, because of the combination of decisions which are taken sometimes on the basis of political and other considerations, I think we may have to look at a different way of doing things.”

The hosting rights used to be decided by each country getting one vote but that changed to an executive committee vote in 1983. The Fifa ExCo meet on March 2 and if sufficient momentum is generated, voting reform will be pushed onto the agenda.

Andy Anson, chief executive of England’s bid, has led the counterattack after England’s two-vote humiliation, arguing that Fifa was attracted to Russia and Qatar as host venues because they will allow the body to conduct its business without scrutiny and grant it tax exemption.

“You do all the technical work and it seems to matter very little,” he said. “Weigh the factors that matter to Fifa out of 10 and you would give the technical process [only] one-quarter.

“That’s what it feels like. And you would probably give democracies with a free press a minus score, and a 10 to countries where you are not going to get bothered. It is deeply frustrating.”

Fifa has repeatedly shown itself uncomfortable with the scrutiny of the British press. Jack Warner, one of the Fifa ExCo members who went back on his commitment to vote for England, has blamed the press for the defeat.

“Some of my colleagues are still angry with the English media. I hope the media are satisfied with what they achieved because it seems they had a death wish for the English bid,” Warner said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/8181734/World-Cup-2018-stung-FA-to-start-revolt-against-Sepp-Blatter.html

---

Trouble is, Mr Warner, none of us are buying that line anymore. Before the vote it felt like the blame would fall on the BBC, but now that line doesn't wash with anyone. It's hollow, and coming from the mouth of a proven crook, sickening.

Good to see that some kind of push for voting reform is building momentum at the very least, and that at least one ExCo member has acknowledged the problems.

[Faster]

I don't think its enough. You will have the USA, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Nordic States, Japan, China, Australia and the home-nations. And maybe Argentina. France, Brazil and much of Africa are firmly behind Blatter and Asia, outside of those not wanting Chung or bin Hammam to take power, will care more about retaining the status quo for now, so the future is clear for an AFC president. You need at least 80 to 90 of the FAs to challange Blatter and since Beckenbaurer is stepping away (probably because of the disgust he feels in being apart of such nonsense, I firmly believe he was England and Australia's vote) you don't have a credibly candidate. The other major players are all in line with Blatter.

[Mainad]

I don't think its enough. You will have the USA, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Nordic States, Japan, China, Australia and the home-nations. And maybe Argentina. France, Brazil and much of Africa are firmly behind Blatter and Asia, outside of those not wanting Chung or bin Hammam to take power, will care more about retaining the status quo for now, so the future is clear for an AFC president. You need at least 80 to 90 of the FAs to challange Blatter and since Beckenbaurer is stepping away (probably because of the disgust he feels in being apart of such nonsense, I firmly believe he was England and Australia's vote) you don't have a credibly candidate. The other major players are all in line with Blatter.

Not sure about Australia,but it seems Beckenbauer never voted for England either.According to the BBC and several newspapers including the Independent and the Mirror,our only other vote besides Thompson's came from Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou!

[LuigiVercotti]

Without doubt the balance of power is not with the countries who would have a vested interest in reforming, plus the divisions within MaFIFA mean that Blather can effectively divide and conquer. For example I don't doubt that the successful Qatar bid also owed something to Blather negotiating the power balance in Zurich with Bin Hammam. This could have been a pledge from Hammam not to run at the next election against Blather, it could have been a vote of support promise from his bloc when Blather runs again. As for Russia Mutko seems to be only a recent admission to the ex-co so where I think Blather was able to exert pressure there on the membership wasn't so much pro Mutko/pro-Russia as anti-England/anti-BBC.

Therefore I sincerely doubt the possibilities of an England led or inspired 'inner revolt', assisted by the likes of Australia, US, Japan, Netherlands etc etc. If anything I would suggest there needs to be either a complete break with the likes of Blather (including the ending of friendlies with certain teams and countries), plus lobbying in the continental groupings to at least balance out the likes of CONMEBOL, CAF and the AFC.

In fact right now I'd say right now both the African and South American confederations are too compromised thanks to the traditions of largesse, nepotism, corruption and cronyism first inspired by Havelange and now spread even wider with Blather. These bodies are write-offs in terms of their ability to be positively influenced by anyone. Oceania is too tiny and irrelevant to care about, whilst CONCACAF needs a purge of both Warner and Blazer to make it more reputable.

The real battlegrounds that need to be won at the confed level are Europe and Asia, and this means taking on Platini and Valcke in UEFA and Bin Hammam in the AFC. If enough European FA's were able to either influence or indeed topple the French it could improve things, whereas for the AFC basically every FA east of Iran and Iraq needs to go with an alternate that is not so dependent upon Middle eastern money and influence. Australia and the FFA sad to say have no real influence here so it would be up to the Koreans and Japanese (who have already shown their fealty to Bin Hamman in the last vote).

So right now reforming MaFIFA with Blatter and his acolytes holding the fortress seems well nigh impossible. The best solution; break away and start again.

[Faster]

If I changed FIFA.

Executive Committee

1 President, 1 Vice-President, the 6 heads of the Confederations

Governing Body

1 representative each from: Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Spain, France, England, Germany, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and USA and 15 members selected every 4 years at the FIFA Congress. The representatives from each of the members has a 8 year term limit. As do all heads of the Confederations, the VP and the President.

The hosts are selected by majority vote from the 39 members of the aforementioned bodies, no earlier than 8 years before the event.

[baron-pierreIV]

If I changed FIFA.

Executive Committee

1 President, 1 Vice-President, the 6 heads of the Confederations

Governing Body

1 representative each from: Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Spain, France, England, Germany, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and USA and 15 members selected every 4 years at the FIFA Congress. The representatives from each of the members has a 8 year term limit. As do all heads of the Confederations, the VP and the President.

The hosts are selected by majority vote from the 39 members of the aforementioned bodies, no earlier than 8 years before the event.

I'd also throw in 6 spots for 6 outstanding footballers (again on a continental basis: 4 men; 2 women players). There should also at least be 5 women from those 15 leading countries. And ALL get to vote on ALL matters!!

[LuigiVercotti]

I'd also throw in 6 spots for 6 outstanding footballers (again on a continental basis: 4 men; 2 women players). There should also at least be 5 women from those 15 leading countries. And ALL get to vote on ALL matters!!

Whilst I have my doubts about the numbers and break down of voting members as postulated by Faster the idea that there are 6 leading and current players on a reformed FIFA voting assembly/committee is an excellent idea.

How about mandatory age limits for members (no one allowed to be beyond the age of 65-70) as well as the addition of non-voting members from WADA and perhaps the IOC?

[baron-pierreIV]

I also like the way those guys in red robes and the funny red hats in Rome announce their decision -- with a puff of WHITE smoke. Obviously all of them had to be smoking something!!

[LuigiVercotti]

I also like the way those guys in red robes and the funny red hats in Rome announce their decision -- with a puff of WHITE smoke. Obviously all of them had to be smoking something!!

Actually I was wondering if anyone else was struck by the similarity between the 2018/2022 bid announcements last Friday morning and the scene in 300 when Leonidas consults the Ephors...

Sepp Blather

A corrupt and decayed ephor denying Leonidas the authority to fight the Persians...