ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – OCTOBER 20: The FIFA logo is seen outside the FIFA headquarters during to the FIFA Executive Committee Meeting on October 20, 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland. During this third meeting of the year, held on two days, the FIFA Executive Committee will approve the match schedules for the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)
By Matt Yoder on

Donald Trump isn’t the only person shying away from televised debates.

After multiple networks tried to piece it together and hopes were high that the BBC could pull it off, the proposed FIFA Presidential Debate has gone up in smoke.  Why?  Because the top candidates couldn’t be gathered together in the same place at the same time.  In fact, after negotiating to stage the debate, the BBC could only get one of the top five contenders to succeed Sepp Blatter to fully commit to the idea.

Via The Telegraph:

A day after a planned debate at the European Parliament descended into farce when two candidates withdrew with less than 48 hours’ notice, the BBC gave up trying to convince the contenders to take part in a live head-to-head prior to the Feb 26 ballot. 

That was after only one of the five hopefuls committed to attending in person what would have been a studio debate in London 11 days before the election, raising further questions about candidates’ declared commitment to transparency. 

The BBC had been prepared to go ahead with the programme without the favourite for the presidency, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, who declined to take part. But it could not secure firm commitments from three of the other candidates to appear in person in Sheikh Salman’s absence. 

A decision was made to pull the plug yesterday when Tokyo Sexwale told the corporation he would not be in Europe on Feb 15, the day pencilled in for the debate after negotiations with all candidates.

Additionally, in what is a GREAT sign for FIFA turning over a new leaf in terms of transparency, reason, and openness to the sporting public, at least one BBC journalist hinted at some nefarious behind-the-scenes antics that put a halt to the debate.

And a BBC editor even went as far as calling the negotiations “farcical”…

Are we seeing the same old FIFA revert back to form?  A FIFA presidential debate wouldn’t have had a tangible effect on the race since it’s not like it’s a public election or anything, but it would have gone a long way as a statement of intent by all of the presidential hopefuls that they were going to provide some public accountability… or, at least more public accountability than Sepp Blatter, which was nil.  Yes, there probably would have been a surrealist element to it with the hoped for, first of its kind debate.  However, it would have provided a great platform for the future of the world’s game and the candidates that hope to lead its governing body.

This is going to be the most-watched and most-scrutinized presidential election in FIFA history, and maybe one of the most important in the history of world sport.  Whoever wins the race is going to be tasked with trying to clean up FIFA and lead it into a new, hopefully corruption-less era.  A public forum would have been a great step in that direction.  Let’s hope the debate being scrapped doesn’t mean it’s going to be business as usual in FIFA’s backrooms in the race to succeed Blatter.

[The Telegraph]

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