Who wants to leave FIFA?
Jesper Möller, the chairman of the Danish football association DBU, is the last in line to publicly suggest this. After Fifa threatened sanctions for wearing the OneLove band at the World Cup in Qatar, he said a Fifa exit had been discussed earlier this year “in the Scandinavian region”. “I’ve been thinking about it again,” he said. ‘I can imagine that problems could arise if Denmark leaves on its own. But let’s see if we can’t have a dialogue about things.”
When that was interpreted as a plan to get out, the Danish federation quickly came up with a nuance. “That was not said at the press conference,” said a spokesman. The DBU remains critical of Fifa and Infantino, but the Fifa exit was “a misunderstanding”.
So nothing wrong?
Certainly, because Denmark is not the first country to consider leaving. The dissatisfaction is broader and is not just about the World Cup in Qatar, the way Fifa is run has been causing grumbling for years. When Sepp Blatter was re-elected in 2015 despite all kinds of scandals, it was the KNVB that openly dreamed of a FIFA-less future. ‘A separate tournament, apart from the World Cup? That is an extremely interesting idea’, said professional football director Bert van Oostveen.
Blatter resigned not long after, after which his successor Infantino promised to improve. But this Swiss is also under constant fire, for example because of his plans to organize a biennial World Cup. European and South American countries are against it because the football agenda is already overcrowded and it competes with their own continental tournaments. It regularly leaks that behind the scenes threats are made with a departure if Infantino still wants to get his way.
What are the consequences of a Fifa exit?
For countries that have little chance of participating in the World Cup, these are quite manageable. They are no longer allowed to participate in the World Cup qualifiers upon departure. Above all, they give up the glimmer of hope that they will ever win that golden trophy.
It is more annoying for countries that often participate or are promising, but it does not mean that they have to go through life without football. European countries can continue to be members of Uefa and therefore participate in the European Championship. Fifa membership is also not necessary for international matches outside the own continent. Small countries such as Micronesia, Tuvala and Vatican City are already playing mutual matches without being members.
They have to do without the millions that the World Cup generates. The tournament is the cash cow of FIFA and the member countries benefit from it. In Qatar, the 32 countries earn at least $ 9 million and that amount increases with each round, up to $ 42 million for the winner. But countries can also set up an alternative association themselves and/or organize a tournament where a ‘World Cup’ can be won. And certainly if large countries participate, the millions will also flow in there.
Why is everyone still a Fifa member then?
Many other sports have or used to have several global federations: boxing, darts and chess, for example. Divorce often causes problems. “The biggest mistake of my career,” Garry Kasparov called his decision to break with the global chess federation Fide in 1993 with Nigel Short. They received little support from other chess players. For years there remained two competing federations with two world champions. The lingering conflict had damaged the game, Kasparov concluded.
“It only makes sense if you do it as a collective,” concluded KNVB director Van Oostveen in 2015. In football, at least Europe, South America and North America should participate, because the vast majority of players come from those parts of the world. world champions for men and women.
So far it has not come that far. Many countries may agree on their dissatisfaction, but they all have different interests and strategies. The Netherlands would like to organize the Women’s World Cup in 2027 with Germany and Belgium. That may explain why the KNVB is currently staying far from the Danish exit suggestion and is very committed to maintaining ‘the dialogue’. Even about the One Love band, Western European countries failed to maintain unity: France dropped out before the Fifa threat.
Still, the Danes will probably not be the last to flirt with a departure. It is a useful means of keeping the pressure on; for example, the biennial World Cup is currently off the agenda. But to really get a group of countries that far, more is needed. Fifa and Infantino will have to make it even more colorful for that.