International football association FIFA needs a change of leadership to overhaul its negative images, according to Michael van Praag, the president of the Royal Dutch Football Association.
He is running for FIFA presidency hoping to nudge Sepp Blatter off the post on May 29.
His main goal, van Praag said, is to reform FIFA to improve its image and to enable the organization to serve its intended purpose of supporting the sport of football and its constituent national and regional associations.
“FIFA is a very closed organization, nobody knows why money is spent. They are spending far too much on things that have nothing to do with football, only to keep FIFA a big organization,” he said.
Citing FIFA’s decision to spend $27 million in sponsoring a Hollywood movie production, and the plans for an $18 million FIFA museum as prime examples of unnecessary expenditure, van Praag said that he would bring about drastic changes should he be elected.
One of the changes he promises is making FIFA presidency a single-term post, and installing a board of presidents of national football associations to prevent too much power being wielded by a single person.
“(If I win) I really want to devote myself to reorganization and normalization of FIFA, I really don’t want to the bothered by trying to be reelected. Because when you are bothered by that it means you are unable to take unpopular measures.”
While noting that he does not believe Blatter to be corrupt, van Praag said that as FIFA’s reputation has been destroyed during the current president’s watch, he cannot be tasked with revamping the association.
“You can only change that if you open up. Once an organization is open and transparent there are less possibilities for bribery, for ridiculous decisions.”
The Dutchman who ran Holland’s AFC Ajax until 2003, said that his long career in football management enables him to “see what we miss from FIFA” and to “feel the pain.”
In order to address such pains, which according to van Praag comes mainly from FIFA providing insufficient support for national associations, he said that he will implement major changes.
The changes include directing FIFA coffers to helping members in a transparent manner, and engaging in more charitable projects.
“If I was the president, I would tell them (members) my plans for the coming year (at congresses), what the FIFA will do for the people in the room,” he said.
Adding that those currently running the organization do not take such steps, he noted that it is time for FIFA to spend its money for the right purposes.
“FIFA’s bank accounts become higher and higher, but that is not why FIFA was established a hundred years ago.”
By Choi He-suk ()
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
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