The BBC’s in negotiations to hold a FIFA presidential debate

The idea of a FIFA presidential debate has intrigued more than just one network. ESPN was reportedly pursuing a debate in late December, sending invitations to all of the five confirmed candidates. They’ve now pulled out thanks to lackluster response from the candidates, but Inside World Football reports that the BBC may step in:

Negotiations are under way for the BBC to stage a live debate with candidates in the build-up to the FIFA presidential election on February 26.

Last week, US broadcaster ESPN pulled the plug on a similar idea scheduled for January 29 because only Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and Jerome Champagne were available. “We invited all five candidates to take part in a debate and made every effort to explore logistical options with them,” an ESPN spokesman was quoted as saying. “Ultimately, we did not gain the commitments needed to deliver a programme that would meet our standards.”

Now, however, the BBC has stepped in and is understood to have already received assurances from three of the five candidates for the round-table debate to be held in mid-February in London. Tokyo Sexwale and emerging favourite Sheikh Salman are still considering whether to accept the invitation.

No televised debate has ever before been held in a FIFA presidential election. BBC and Sky made a similar proposal before last May’s vote but Sepp Blatter, who ended up winning 133-73 against Prince Ali, turned down the invitation. Next month’s programme, if it goes ahead, would be simultaneously broadcast on television (globally and domestically), radio and the BBC’s website, with opening and closing statements from the candidates and questions submitted by the public.

One big difference between a televised FIFA debate and a normal televised political debate is that the vast majority of viewers in a FIFA debate would have no say over which candidate is eventually voted in. The FIFA presidential vote gives each member country one vote (which leads to bizarre situations such as tiny Oceania having 11 votes to massive South America’s 10), and that vote is generally provided by the head of each country’s soccer federation; they’re not generally accountable to the public, and they’re the ones these candidates need to win over, not the public in general. However, that doesn’t mean that a debate isn’t helpful.

FIFA is in a rather desperate situation at the moment thanks to the ongoing corruption investigations and arrests, and regaining the public’s trust is incredibly important for the organization. A debate like this could go a long way towards showing which candidate or candidates can be generally trusted by fans. It’s notable that these candidates are talking about their platforms (four of the five will appear at a separate Brussels forum next week put on by European Parliament Sports Intergroup and U.K. lobby group #NewFIFANow), but they’re not currently doing so in a way that the majority of soccer fans can easily consume. A televised and streamed debate would go a long way towards that, and while the fans don’t have any direct say in the upcoming FIFA vote, their reactions might prove very useful for the officials who do have votes. We’ll see if the BBC can pull this off, but if they can, it could be a good thing for world soccer.