The Kick Project

We watched the FIFA Extraordinary Congress on Friday night our time. We saw the speeches. We watched the votes being cast in those odd little tents. We watched the glad handing. We sensed the deals. As Australians we had our own small role, as our own David Gallop from the FFA acted as a scrutineer, shuffling bits of green ballot paper like playing cards. We were surprised by the results (only 4 votes for Prince Ali bin Al Hussein?..None for Champagne?.....). But, did we like what we saw, what we heard? Simple answer: Yes and No. Not really so simple. First, the positives. The fact that FIFA has been forced to look into itself and to accept the verdict of the people on the disastrous impact of the Havelange-Blatter era has to be good. The solid vote in favour of the reform process is a favourable result. The very reason for the meeting is the resignation of Sepp Blatter after he was elected with the usual insult to democratic process. His step down is a victory for the game. ...

Pic.Reuters.com We just received an update from FIFA on how the football body proposes to regain credibility after what it says were "the difficult challenges of the past year." As the linked video above shows, the body aims to delineate its reforms into four areas: Governance, Transparency, Accountability and Diversity. It also seeks to overhaul the structure at the heart of the organisation. Part of this is the use of "fully independent" processes in areas like remuneration and eligibility for the new 36-member Council. On first glance, it's a PR response to a cultural problem. They are using all the right terms and buzzwords, but how these noble goals will be actualised seems to remain a grey area. For us, two areas stand out. Firstly, there is an avowed commitment to honour human rights in all areas, including programs and funding, sponsorship and commercial deals. This appears promising. But this is unlikely to go beyond national laws in ...

With news that FIFA bigwigs Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini and Jerome Valcke have been "red carded" by FIFA and will have to sit out the next three months, it looks like finally the dead wood is being pruned at the world game HQ. However, worse may be yet come. What can be done to get the people's game back to the people? The current danger is that as the poison is leeched from FIFA, nothing will be left. If corruption is as rife as many - including us here at The Kick Project - believe then more will be shown the door and still more, aware that the gravy train has terminated, will move on voluntarily. The result may well be a vacuum at the heart of the world's most valuable sport. The immediate consequences of this may be no Confederation Championships and no World Cup in three years time or beyond. That's bad enough, but the real concern is who or what will fill this void. There are essentially three likely outcomes. One, would be to hand FIFA over to e...

Well, the news hounds at The Kick Project have been out of the loop a little lately. But, after a break, Caught Our Eye is back. FIFA Presidential Race Gets Ever Murkier PROGRAM INFO Gaza: One Woman's Plea for Gaza to be Noticed Gaza:Children Forced to Work to Help Broken Families Rohingya in Malaysia: New Book Gives Children's View of Persecution REFUGEES Germany Calls for More EU Intakes as Refugee Influx Balloons-Critics Consider Walls FOOTBALL FOR PEACE US Tournament Brings Young People Together, Including Those from Areas of Conflict