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Weak excuses Dempsey's attempts to explain World Cup vote are poor
The man whose sudden change-of-heart denied South Africa the World Cup almost four months ago broke his silence this week to explain his side of the story. Last July, Charles Dempsey, a member of FIFA's Executive and president of the Oceania Football Confederation (OCF), decided to abstain from the final round of voting. His decision virtually guaranteed that Germany would be given the mandate to organize the 2006 World Cup, as the final vote was 12-11 in favor of the Germans. Dempsey had been instructed by the OCF to back England in the first round of voting, but once England was eliminated, he was to switch his allegiance to South Africa. Had he cast his vote for South Africa, it would have finished 12-12 and FIFA boss Sepp Blatter would have been asked to break the tie. It is widely assumed that Blatter, a vocal supporter of any African World Cup bid, would have backed South Africa. Instead Dempsey chose to abstain. Just like that, he simply walked out. At the time, his actions infuriated not only South African soccer authorities, but observers worldwide. It looked like Dempsey was simply chickening out, like he was afraid of something. But afraid of what? Death threats, among other things. "There were constant telephone calls from the South Africans and the Germans," he told a British newspaper. "I had Nelson Mandela on the phone at about two in the morning asking me for my vote ... I started to get threatening telephone calls to vote in a particular way. People rang me and said that they would embarrass me because my daughter works for UEFA. It was all very unpleasant."
I'm sure it was. But that's what happens when you have power. Dempsey had power. With power comes responsibility. He had a responsibility to represent the OCF on the FIFA Executive. He had a responsibility to do his job as a member of the game's most powerful body. Instead, he took a page from Roberto Duran and said "No mas." If he did not want to back South Africa for whatever reason, fine. At that point he should have voted for Germany. Had he done so in good conscience nobody could have complained. Complicating matters further was a hoax letter, supposedly from people close to Franz Beckenbauer, offering him a megabribe if he backed Germany. "It turned out to be a hoax, but it all added to the pressure on me," he complained. Having seen a copy of the letter, I can assure you even a child would have known it was a hoax. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a guy like Beckenbauer would never risk his reputation by sinking this low. Even the editor of the German satirical magazine behind the hoax said he thought it was "obvious" that the letter was not to be taken seriously. Still, all this, coupled with the bizarre story about his daughter (How could the fact that his daughter works for UEFA possibly embarrass him? Unless of course he had something to hide...) apparently caused him to snap. "I rang my lawyer in New Zealand," Dempsey says. "He advised that to vote at all could leave me open to allegations that I had been bought off." Bought off? By whom? South Africa? Obviously not. Had he voted for South Africa he would simply have been doing what his own constituents, the OCF, had asked him to do. Germany? Again, it wouldn't make sense. Voting for Germany and abstaining amounted to the exact same thing. If he was going to be tarred with allegations of corruption, they would have been forthcoming regardless of whether he backed Germany or abstained entirely. It's easy to understand then why some people believe Dempsey's nose has gotten just a little bit longer in the past four months. He claims to have been put under unbearable pressure. Funny though how the other twenty-three members of the FIFA Executive all managed to cope with it, especially when their votes counted just as much as his. We may never know the truth of what really happened. Maybe he did just snap. Or perhaps there are more sinister reasons. Nobody should be surprised that FIFA is an inherently political organization which makes inherently political decisions. Back-room deals are inevitable. What is surprising is that a guy as experienced as Dempsey could come off looking so stupid and weak. Ultimately, this reflected very poorly on FIFA as well. But the true damage was done to South Africa and, probably to African soccer as a whole. Hearing Dempsey's pathetic excuses four months after the fact is just another reminder that while soccer may be a game, the money and power behind it are very serious indeed. Based in London, Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com.
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