Is there deeper significance in events on and off the football field?
The dramatic arrest of FIFA officials in the luxury Baur au Lac hotel, overlooking Lake Zurich on charges of corruption took the football world by surprise. But allegations of corruption have been levelled at FIFA for many years. In 2011 an independent panel convened to deal with these allegations proposed a number of measures, but their recommendations were ignored. The surprise this time was due to the intervention of American law enforcement agencies investigating crimes of money laundering and corruption involving banks based in America.
Controversy and Injustice
The refusal of 79 year old Sepp Blatter to step down as President of FIFA after 17 years in office is, perhaps, the greatest scandal. Even if he himself is totally innocent of corrupt practices, he has presided over an organisation that has a terrible reputation. It would seem logical to say that as head of the multibillion-dollar organisation he ought to have known what was going on. He is either corrupt or incompetent and in either case he is not the man to clean up such an influential International Association.
Football is no longer just a game: it is a highly lucrative international industry offering huge wealth to both sponsors and players, and is therefore vulnerable to massive corruption. But there are also enormous differences in the rewards paid to players. In some of the developing countries such as Uruguay and Costa Rica professional players earn only a $150 a month1 whereas in Europe they can earn $150,000 a week! FIFA should be addressing such vast injustices.
The controversy surrounding the President of FIFA has highlighted differences in economics, culture and practices between European nations and those in the developing nations. Sepp Blatter has spent the past 17 years promoting high-level international football (with its huge financial rewards) in Africa and South America, where he has won many friends who have benefited and want him to continue as President.
FIFA already presides over huge injustices, such as massive global disparities in footballers' wages. The latest allegations of bribery and corruption just add insult to injury.
'Shrewd' Business in the Bible
Jesus told a parable in Luke 16 about a shrewd businessman who knew that he was going to be dismissed for incompetence so he called a meeting of all the firm's debtors and reduced their debts so that when he lost his job he would have many friends who owed him favours. The point of the parable Jesus said was that worldly people know how to manipulate financial transactions to their own advantage. Righteous people should take a lesson from this and make sure that their lives produce spiritual fruit for eternal life. This is of far greater importance than ensuring a comfortable lifestyle on earth.
Shaking the Establishment
Daily Herald article, 1963
For Christians, it is important to note the spiritual significance of what is happening in the commercial world, and especially how it throws light on how God is working out his purposes today. We have already seen the shaking of the banks and the exposure of corrupt practices, the shaking of the political establishment in the Western nations, the shaking of newspapers and journalists, celebrities and many others. Now football is the latest of the world's big institutions to be shaken.
For many fans, football plays a large part in their lives and has almost become a religion. When Spurs won the league and European Cup double in 1963, the team paraded through the streets of Tottenham North London, with their fans displaying placards saying "HALLOWED BE THEIR NAMES" and "O COME LET US ADORE THEM" (see right). At the Wembley cup final it is traditional to sing the Christian hymn 'Abide with me', though it is doubtful if many in the crowd sing it to the glory of God. Maybe this is the reason why football is the first major sport to come under judgement!
What we are seeing today is in line with the Bible's prophecy of a great shaking of the nations recorded in Haggai 2:6-7, where it is said that this will be accompanied by a great shaking in the world of nature. In the New Testament the writer to the Hebrews interpreted this great shaking as preparing the way for the Kingdom of God; the end of the age, which is generally believed to be the second coming of Jesus (Heb 12:26).
We are living in an incredible period of world history with nations in every part of the world being shaken. As each great event hits the headlines, corruption is revealed as the norm, and dishonour the standard, in the lives and careers of many. As we make a stand for faith, let us stand in the love and strength of Christ, which provides a new way- a way of justice and righteousness -for those who choose to accept him.
References
1 Reuters, 'This should've happened long ago', First Post, 28 May 2015.
