Grant Wahl, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and SI.com, has put his name in the hat for the position of President of FIFA. The elections will be held on June 1. Wahl is campaigning behind the promise of sweeping reforms to the FIFA Executive Committee; using the momentum of recent allegations of corruption by The Sunday Times in the UK to drive support for his election. Even though it is a somewhat unexpected announcement, it is very possible he could successfully restore credibility to an organization that desperately to perform damage control on its tarnished image.
The only other opposition current lame duck president Sepp Blatter faces is the president of Asia's Football Federation, Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar. I think the Cleveland Cavaliers will win the NBA Championship before Mr. Hammam makes any substantial progress reforming the system.
Wahl's proposed changes include implementing instant replay for calls on the goal line, restructuring the system for referee selections so it is based on merit, and eliminating "stupid yellow cards" for celebrations such as removing your jersey.
His most substantial reform proposals include a term limit for the president (there have been 2 in 37 years), the appointment of women to prominent roles on the committee (All 27 are men at the moment), and revealing past financial records and confidential documents. He plans on "going Wikileaks on FIFA".
The biggest hurdle will be for Mr. Wahl to have a country nominate him as a candidate, a requirement to be on the ballot. No one else is taking action and challenging Sepp Blatter and FIFA as a governing body. Grant Wahl has covered 5 World Cups, and is aware of the glaring black eye that FIFA has as a professional organization. I believe FIFA needs Grant Wahl to make the changes no one else is willing to make.
Here are the links to an article announcing his candidacy and a campaign video:
Official Announcement:
http://bit.ly/hVmEw4
Campaign Video:
http://bit.ly/dJomg5
If you want to offer your support and help make Grant Wahl's candidacy gain a following on Twitter and Facebook, and make his nomination official, here are those links:
Grant Wahl's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/GrantWahl
Petition on Twitter for his candidacy:
http://bit.ly/eAf1ME
Facebook Page:
http://on.fb.me/hZYvds
i dig it. seems like he is really trying to modernize some of the more antiquated policies (instant replay/women/non-gentlemanly-celebrations) which i think will at least please the younger generations- and perhaps even americans?!
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