FIFA, Iran And The Future Of Sports Diplomacy

Undeterred by the political-psychological situation surrounding regional nuclear politics FIFA president Sepp Blatter flew into Tehran recently to meet  president Hassan Rouhani and approve the Islamic Republic of Iran as the host of FIFA’s 2019 Asia Games.

 

This move was a well thought out public relations coup by the 77 year old Blatter that provides him with media momentum as he seeks an unprecedented fifth term as head of FIFA, the international governing body of association football.

 

Blatter said he had been planning a visit to Tehran for two years but the time “wasn’t right.” Now, as he seeks to expand the FIFA driven sports economy in the Middle East and Southern Asia, the time seems right. Iran’s new president is attempting to project the Islamic Republic as a nation that wants to normalize relations with the international community, which includes moving toward with transparency in nuclear affairs. Iran’s national football team, which is coached by former Real Madrid boss Carlos Queiroz, has been playing well, qualifying for the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.

 

 

Seven other nations submitted proposals to host the 2019 Asia finals.  Bahrain, China, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates submitted bids along with Iran. Asian Football Confederation president Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, who also met with president Rouhani, supported Blatter’s decision to choose Iran.

 

Is Sepp Blatter’s Campaign For A Fifth Term As FIFA President Sports Marketing Or Sports Diplomacy?

 

Voting to select the next FIFA president takes place in 2015 and if he wins Blatter’s leadership of the organization, which has more members than the United Nations, would run until 2019.

 

Russia will host the FIFA World Cup in 2018. According to FIFA’s website the Supervisory Board of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is chaired by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.

 

For Russian companies like Gazprom, who use sports diplomacy to reach out to cultures and markets a continuation of the Blatter administration offers the security of continuity. The prospect of changes in the FIFA setup associated with the victory of his challenger, European Football Federation (UEFA) Michel Platini of France, would be inconvenient for Russian business interests who negotiated their FIFA partnership with Blatter.

 

In September Blatter met in Sochi with Gazprom chairman Andrey Miller and Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin to sign a four year deal making the energy giant an official FIFA partner. The arrangement, which includes the Gazprom “football for friendship” project, runs through 2018.

 

Is A Challenge To Replace Blatter As FIFA President In 2015 Now Problematic?

For the past two years the sports press in Europe has been buzzing up the name of European Football Federation (UEFA) president Michel Platini of France as the probable successor to the 77 year old Blatter. But Platini’s reputation as a strong advocate for keeping Europe the center of FIFA football has become embroiled in French politics.

 

Platini now says he will hold off on his decision to challenge Blatter until after the FIFA Brazil World Cup in July of 2014, which would give him an opportunity to blame any problems associated with  the event, including riots and protests, on Blatter.

 

But the collateral effects of the controversial “luxury tax” of 75% the current socialist government seeks to impose on the salaries of footballers earning over 1 million Euros who play FIFA football in France is not likely to be a big vote getter among prospective Platini backers..

 

The tax law has been criticized by elite French players and stars from Sweden, Brazil and several nations in Africa. A French court is currently examining whether the government has the legal right to tax the football millionaires as individuals.

 

In addition, Platini’s consultations with then French president Nicholas Sarkozy regarding his 2010 vote in support for the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup may provide Blatter supporters with the basis for negative campaigning that does not directly involve the current FIFA president.  The FIFA team Blatter currently has in place has more experience at managing damage control, a plus facing a potential challenge from Platini.

 

Can FIFA Sports Diplomacy Help Iran Globally?

A big question mark. Conveniently Blatter’s visit does fit into in Iran’s campaign to normalize relations with the international community that could help offset the continuing effect of the US-led embargo against the Islamic Republic.

 

In his discussions with Blatter, president Rouhani said that football players are “peace ambassadors.”

 

But defining what type of “peace” remains to be seen. The Blatter move to reach out to Iran and approve their hosting the 2019 FIFA Asia Games is a positive gesture that complements diplomatic initiatives like Kerry-Lavrov, and Washington’s effort to reach out to Tehran on nuclear and other issues.

 

But, just as a hypothetical, what if Rouhani’s regime suddenly decides to blockade the strategic Straits of Hormuz?

 

Would FIFA use sports diplomacy and threaten to move the 2019 Asia Games from Iran. Unlikely.

 

The United States has already used hard power in response to that threat, sending two aircraft carriers with nuclear missiles into the area.

 

Iran refusing to allow international inspections of its Parchin nuclear facility will likely find FIFA watching from the sidelines, much as it has done in the bloody Syria conflict. Blatter has praised the resilience of Syria’s FIFA football infrastructure in the face of the continuing hostilities. Syria’s best footballer is now contracted to one of the top teams in China. With no turning back on Iran hosting the 2019 FIFA Asian games Blatter’s media team is already shifting the focus to softer issues like Iran admitting women to FIFA football matches.  

 

 

Sports Diplomacy Remains A Side Issue To Public Diplomacy

Beyond all of the storytelling and qualitative buzz, the combination of social media and public diplomacy have yet to achieve a substantive, quantifiable record of solidifying democratic institutions in the Arab world, southern Asia and elsewhere.

 

The dashed hopes of the “Arab Spring.” Media falsehoods surrounding Benghazi. France pressing for a one meeting nuclear deal with Iran to claim victory and boost the flagging popularity of its president.  

 

It’s hardly an open secret that governments and non-state actors continue to fund and profit from conflict in what amounts to a crisis facing variant of the global defense driven economy. What complicates fundamentalist revolutions and and low intensity or asymmetrical war is that all the actors are spinning their versions of reality through social media. Oil, commodities and money markets are impacted by trading programs featuring algorithms linked to Twitter. Anyone with a knack for speculating can profit from such situations. Even hackers.

 

Major world powers run false flag operations and engage in guerrilla-style tactics in the name of peace. White hat, and black hat (anonymous) hackers are now an important part of the action.

 

Aginst this backdrop it’s becoming evident that 21^st century statecraft has lost some of the stature it possessed during prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union when concepts like mutually assured destruction and massive retaliation were taken seriously by policymakers and citizens alike.

 

Forming generations of future diplomats who use IPhones and Facebook and Twitter to understand the concepts that continue to drive nuclear politics is a challenge. They are often distracted, have low attention spans, even lower pain threshholds, or just press the “I accept” button on their laptop or mobile device and in their minds and forget.

Brazil, which has used public diplomacy to propose measures that help Iran work around UN sanctions associated with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, could not muster enough international support to get approval for their plan.  Shifting to sports diplomacy the government of president Dilma Rousseff  launched a $10 million public relations campaign sports diplomacy campaign to position Brazil as a safe location for tourists visiting the World Cup and the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. Within days, the major Rio favela commandos who control an important share of the nation’s drug trade, announced they would create a “world cup of terror.”

 

Looking at the future

Sports diplomacy is important for Russian business because it increases the brand equity and international image of major energy companies and other businesses active in world markets.  Every major FIFA football venue in Europe and some in the Middle East and South Asia feature advertising promoting them. 

 

Looking ahead eight years to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the geopolitical terrain will have changed measurably and younger generations of diplomats and sports managers will be on the scene.

 

Sepp Blatter will no longer be president of FIFA but his social network and business connections will remain a factor in guiding the organization. There is the risk of a "leadership gap."  If sports diplomacy has a future, and if Russian business and diplomatic initiatives are to benefit from it, FIFA may need a leader who has an understanding the politics of organizing a World Cup tournament and who also brings strong experience as the president of a nation that has a strong commitment to competitive athletics and the education of sports managers.