FIFA has officially warned the Spanish government that any further involvement with upcoming election for the new president could lead to severe punishment. Spain has been said to have contacted the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) multiple times about who it's new leader would be. This is against the FIFA rules which state that any contact from governments can be seen as political interference. If Fifa finds that a government has influenced one of its associations they then have the power to suspend its national team. In the case of Spain, a country which revolves around football, that would be grave news for its people and a significant disappointment for its government. Not only would a Spanish suspension be controversial, but it would remove one of the tournaments strongest teams. While suspension is still far off, it should be interesting to see Fifa's next move.
Citations: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/world-cup-2018-spain-fifa-threaten-expel-political-interference-a8112466.html
Has Fifa ever exercised this power and suspended a team from competition on the grounds of "political interference?"
ReplyDeleteIt would be hard for me to believe that, even if the Spanish government continued to infer about the new REEF president, that Fifa would actually go through with a suspension. Spain is one of the top contenders in the 2018 World Cup; it is my thought that if Fifa were to suspend the Spanish team, they would be losing the revenue generated both by Spain's fans at the games, and through a decline in the amount of media coverage and viewership within Spain. I know that if my home nation was not allowed to play, it would be a deterrent for me to watch altogether, just out of spite!
When weighing the business side with reputation and prestige, do you think Fifa would rethink their decision if Spain continued to ask about the presidential election, given that Spain's presence in the World Cup generates revenue (and even though this may make the governing body look weak or seem to play favorites when it comes to teams of high stature)? Or, do you think Fifa would "stick to their guns" and suspend Spain without any further thought?
- Jenna
HANNAH HENRY: It is very unlikely that FIFA will suspend Spain from the tournament. I think that this would be a very poor choice on their part because it would cause tons of controversy and the viewership ratings would go down. FIFA would face a lot of backlash from the country and its sponsors, which would make their decision to suspend them not worth their efforts. The business sponsors will highlight the loss of revenue, which will make FIFA chose to take other steps to deal with the issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above points, I see it as very unlikely that Fifa would actually follow through with the threat to suspend Spain from the tournament. Not only would Spanish fans be outraged, but the whole football society. Since the Spanish team is one of the most talented, this would dramatically change the whole tournament. Furthermore, besides just angry fans, Fifa would have to suffer many other consequences, such as loss of revenue, viewership, sponsorship and much more.
ReplyDeleteFifa could take other steps between simply warning them to stop asking about the presidential election and suspending them from the competition. There other benefits that they could threaten to take away first, such as home field advantage or scheduling times, etc. I think this would be a smarter route to go down. Only if all other punishments are exausted first, would I say Fifa should then think about suspending Spain from the tournament.
- Siobhan O'Loughlin
In the aftermath of the Winter Olympics, where Russia was banned from sending athletes under the nation's flag, but many Russian athletes were able to compete as Olympic Athletes from Russia, do you think that FIFA could potentially use this as a precedent and allow the Spanish National team to compete but not as a technical representative of Spain. Due to political conditions within the country, I don't think fans would be especially outraged, and without any action it feels like there is no real bite to any future threats FIFA would make.
ReplyDelete-Jake Martino
It is a shame that the Spanish government is ruining Football for its citizens. Government interference can never be okay in sport, as it ruins the creditability of the team. We see this in Russia, who for years has been allowing its international competitors to take part in performance enhancing tactics. That being said, I think it is unlikely that FIFA will suspend Spain because it would face a lot of backlash from the Spanish. Spain also is not directly interfering with the competition, if they were, suspension would be a no-brainer.
ReplyDelete