The football public have given FIFA a resounding thumbs DOWN ahead of tomorrow's presidential election.
Coming on the back of yesterday's dramatic FIFA arrests, anti-corruption charity Transparency International (www.transparency.org.uk) teamed up with Swedish app developers Football Addicts (www.footballaddicts.com/), to ask the 2.7 million users of Forza Football what they really think about the people who run football.
Of the 35,000 votes they received from 30 different countries, the poll found:
- 83% of international fans think Blatter should not stand again for President
- 2% of international fans think Qatar should have the 2022 World Cup
- 39% of international fans think Australia should host the World Cup, 38% think USA should
- Only 17% of international fans have confidence in FIFA
The aim of this collaboration was to give football fans one collective voice in advance of the elections, and to highlight the discord between the people who run the game and the people who watch it.
The four questions asked were:
1. Following FIFA World Cup corruption scandals, should Sepp Blatter be standing again for President of FIFA?
2. Who would you pick to run FIFA?
3. Which country should host the 2022 World Cup?
4. Do you have confidence in FIFA?
Calls for the election to be postponed after the day's events in Nyon have thus far been ignored. The election will go ahead, despite the absolute vote of no confidence coming from the football public.
