The sight of FIFA president Sepp Blatter cele­brating his fifth successive election victory for the post on Friday made many stomachs churn. Whatever positive contribution he made since taking the helm of world football’s governing body in 1998 has been most unceremoniously undone by a corruption scandal that will not go away.

As a result of US prosecutors indicting 14 FIFA officials and associates last Wednesday, football is facing arguably its worst crisis in history. US Attorney General said after the arrests: “They corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves.”

Suspicions of corruption at FIFA – particu­larly in relation to the controversial awarding of the World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar – have long cast a shadow over what was once the Beautiful Game. But the magnitude of this scandal has engulfed it – a matter only made worse by an election for FIFA president two days later that was as insensitive as it was delusional.

While the scandal reinforced the long-held perception that football, even at boardroom level, is riven with corruption – Mr Blatter smiled and accepted embraces from the majority of delegates that elected him.

He was also congratulated by UEFA president Michel Platini, who has been vociferous in calling for him to stand down, while FIFA’s major sponsors appear to be waiting and seeing before deciding whether to take any action as a result of the body’s tarnished reputation.

How can football move forward from this? One thing it needs to do, as International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach pointed out in his address to the FIFA Congress, is to follow the example of the Olympic movement, which underwent a major overhaul in the wake of the bribes-for-votes scandal involving the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Drastic reforms are required to the way FIFA as well as the other confederations, including UEFA, select the hosts for tournaments, while strict measures aimed at improving transparency and increasing the level of scrutiny of the voting officials, both at international and domestic level, are badly needed at all levels – not least in Malta – to restore football’s battered image.

In a world where people are often afraid to speak out in order to safeguard their interests, Malta FA president Norman Darmanin Demajo deserves praise for advocating the need for change at the helm of FIFA when he addressed a UEFA meeting in Zurich. He has been at the forefront of the European football association’s efforts to turn up the heat on the embattled 79-year-old and, even though the Swiss secured a fifth successive term, that battle must go on.

Mr Darmanin Demajo’s is not a lone voice. English FA chairman Greg Dyke Dyke said: “This is not over. A third of dele­gates say they’ve had enough of your (Blatter’s) failure to deal with corruption.”

But beyond the words, action is requir­ed. European countries have a duty to get together and force out Mr Blatter – even if this means having to boycott the forthcoming World Cup. The situation is untenable and no tournament is better than a tainted one.

Mr Blatter has had the temerity to describe opposition to him as a “hate campaign”. He could not be more wrong. It is actually a ‘love’ campaign, but by those who love football – a game that attracts huge audiences and which inspires so many children – rather than those who love the seat of power.

The onus is on everyone in football – from high-profile players to administrators – to do everything it takes to restore football’s dented credibility.

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