Fifa’s corruption scandal eclipsed Barca’s triumphs

The last column of 2015, should have celebrated the glory of Barcelona and their exhilarating attack. Barcelona won five major titles, including the prestigious Champions League for the fifth time and the World Club Cup for the third time. Above all they won in style, combining clever possession football with a lethal attack.

The previous great Barcelona teams under Pep Guardiola dominated because of their subtle passing, incessant movement, high pressing and technique. But the 2015 Barcelona played an intoxicating brand of football, predicated upon a tactical system that demanded quick release of the ball to their attacking trio, the predatory Luis Suarez, the brilliant Lionel Messi and the rapidly maturing Neymar.

Messi, Neymar and Suarez can rank amongst the most potent and thrilling attacking trios of all time. They can compare with the legendary Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti and Sandor Kocsis of the magnificent Hungarians of the 1950s, Alfredo di Stefano, Puskas and Raymond Kopa of Real Madrid, European Champions Cup winners five years in a row, 1955-60, Pele, Tostao and Jairzinho of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup winning team and Manchester United’s trio of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, European Champions Cup winners in 1968.

But even the improvisation, silky skills, clever dribbling and lethal finish of Messi, Neymar and Suarez gets overshadowed in 2015 by the massive Fifa corruption scandal. Sadly history will remember 2015 as the year the corrupt machinery of Fifa was fully exposed. Football historians will now always remember, the Swiss attorney-general, Michael Lauber, the US attorney general Loretta Lynch and the Fifa independent ethics committee, as they tightened the net around the illicit gains of so many Fifa officials.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service of the USA are probing whether more than $200 million (`1,324 crores) in bribes were paid for football TV deals and marketing contracts. Swiss prosecutors launched an enquiry into money-laundering over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

The final blow was on December 21, when the adjudicatory chamber of Fifa ethics committee, chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert banned Joseph Blatter and Uefa president Michel Platini for eight years from all football-related activities.

Since September 2015, there has been a criminal case against Blatter on suspicion of misuse of Fifa rights and funds and an under-valued sale of World Cup TV rights to Jack Warner, former president of Concacaf. Platini justified the payment of 2 million Swiss Francs which he received in 2011 as being a fourth installment for his duties as Blatter’s “football counselor” between 1999-2002. His work was not questioned but the time lapse and the reason for the payment stretched credibility.

Blatter is already 79-year old and had intended to resign in February 2016. Platini’s loss is greater. It deals a blow to the hope that former players are the best solution to ensure a responsive and ethically run sports administration. His credibility is in doubt.