Arsene Wenger has an authority that is generated only where success, experience and personability meet. When he talks, you are not only inclined to listen but predisposed to believe him.
You might cynically conclude that he was the perfect appointment for Fifa as their Head of Global Development.
“I believe that the new Fifa we have seen emerging in recent years has the sport itself at the very heart of its objectives,” said Wenger at the time of his appointment. Perhaps he didn’t need to repeat that until he really believed it. Perhaps he does think that he can make a positive difference. But the tenet itself appears a little misguided. Many supporters are unconvinced by a new convivial, benevolent age of the game’s ultimate arbiters.
Wenger’s first baby at Fifa was a wholesale change to the offside rule, quickly dropped after backlash from stakeholders. He then insisted in June 2020 that there was “no racism” inside football and reacted to Raheem Sterling’s criticism of non-white representation in football administration and coaching roles.
“In France we created the concept of positive discrimination but that means you give positions to people because they’re not given enough chances – but this is also discrimination because people who are better may not get the job,” Wenger said, which largely missed the underlying systemic problem of lack of opportunity. The argument isn’t that non-qualified, non-elite coaches should be given elite positions; it’s that there exists a deep inequality that disallows everyone even reaching that stage.
The geopolitical elephant in Fifa’s room is the Qatar World Cup, with high-profile – and justified – criticism of the human rights issues in the country that gained greater notoriety with the Fifa roadshow coming to town. There have been 6,500 deaths of migrant workers in Qatar since the awarding of the World Cup, with at least 37 coming directly in the construction of stadiums for the tournament.
Cut to an exclusive interview with Wenger hosted on the Qatar 2022 website with photos including him holding up a “Qatar 2022” shirt with his name on the back. “It’s a good lesson for every country,” said Wenger when discussing the state’s preparation for the tournament. At best we’ll call that a one-eyed assessment. At worst, well, you know the arguments by now.
Wenger is now the de facto leader of Fifa’s push for a biennial World Cup. This is not, you understand, an effort to make Fifa more money. This is about helping the game to help itself. Six years ago, when Arsenal manager, Wenger criticised Fifa for a calendar that did not allow enough rest for players. Even with the abolition of friendlies, it is hard to see how an extra qualification campaign and extra summer tournament will ease the workload.
This week, Wenger claimed at an event called The Future of Football that “out of 100 football people we consulted, 99 per cent want changes”. It’s a clever piece of obfuscation, because both “football people” and “want changes” are vague enough to avoid scrutiny. But given that Fifa’s own survey of 15,008 supporters concluded only 38 per cent support for a biennial World Cup and that Uefa and the European Club Association have already declared their opposition, are we to assume that these are non-football people? It creates an image that Wenger and Fifa have canvassed only those who are inclined to agree with them, preaching to the converted.
In that same interview, Wenger insisted that the negative reaction to his biennial World Cup plan – was “basically emotional”. On that point, Wenger is right. Football is emotional – that’s entirely the point! The World Cup is the pinnacle of football because it is a landmark, four-yearly event. Supporters save up to travel and follow their team in far-flung countries – could they do the same every two years?
And our reaction to the idea is emotional too: we are hardwired to be suspicious of Fifa’s intentions. If that does this grand new age of Fifa transparency a disservice, their own history provokes that suspicion. They were busy telling us that they stood for the good of the game before and during their corruption scandal.
In another world, Wenger would be a brilliant sporting director at an elite European club. He could hold court, using his negative experiences in late-era Arsenal to avoid mistakes and his positive experiences before then to guide a club to be the best of themselves. With other managers, the game simply left them behind but that doesn’t quite ring true with Wenger.
And we desperately want to believe that he is on the side of the good, changing Fifa one idea at a time. But it’s a tough sell being the PR face for an organisation in a Qatari World Cup cycle and the biennial World Cup superplan seems a misguided place to start. Wenger is railroading the game to force through an idea that few people outside of Fifa’s self-appointed Legends have publicly backed with an assumed mandate that strikes as a little flimsy and an argument that is hard to disassociate from Fifa’s own interests.
For those of us who grew up with Wenger changing English football beyond recognition, it leaves a lingering sadness. We desperately want to believe in him, but it takes a huge leap of faith. Is he still one of us, or is he becoming one of them?
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3n36Zdb
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