By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – A majority of fans are still worried about corruption in football despite Gianni Infantino’s pledge when he took over as FIFA president a year ago that the crisis was over.
According to a new survey published by Forza Football in association with corruption watchdog Transparency International, FIFA is still struggling to regain the trust of fans in the post-Sepp Blatter following the indictment of dozens of big-name officials.
The survey put a series of questions to 25,000 supporters in more than 50 countries, with 53% of those who voted responding that they did not have confidence in FIFA though that figure was lower than the 69% who voted last year.
Infantino insists FIFA has taken steps to make officials more accountable but Cobus de Swardt, special representative at Transparency International, says the fans think differently.
“FIFA puts out 50-page brochures talking of reform, but to the average fan, when I talk to them about what has changed in FIFA, they shake their heads. They have no idea what has really changed,” he said.
“It takes more than words to win back trust. A year is a short time to turn around an organisation that had become synonymous with corruption, so we wait for more concrete actions.”
FIFA has signed only one top-tier partner, China’s Wanda Group, since Infantino took over and de Swardt added: ““FIFA hasn’t been really rebuilt to the extent where sponsors are falling over their feet to be associated with the FIFA name.”
“We don’t underestimate the toughness of the job, but in that sense so far the news has been only moderately good.”
Only 34% of those interviewed thought FIFA was actively fighting corruption while 43% said they disapproved of next year’s World Cup being staged in Russia.
The poll was published just as Infantino and other leading FIFA officials arrived in London for the annual meeting of the game’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), at Wembley.
“It is worrying to see that, for the second year in a row, the majority of fans across the world do not have the confidence in FIFA,” added Patrik Arnesson, chief executive of Forza Football.
“We have reached out to FIFA to ask if they would like our help so that they can better understand fan opinion. We are still waiting for their reply.”
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