INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PRESS RELEASETUESDAY 29 JULY 2008
International Olympic Committee Brokers Agreement with Iraqi Government
Lausanne, Switzerland – An agreement between the Iraqi government and the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday clears the way for Iraqi participation in the Olympic Games in Beijing.
In a productive meeting at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, the IOC and the Government of Iraq agreed on a series of steps that will lead to a fully functioning, independent National Olympic Committee in Iraq. The agreement re-establishes the independent NOC of Iraq which will be allowed to take part in the Beijing Games.
Iraqi athletes will compete in Beijing under the Iraqi flag, led by coaches and team leaders selected by the independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee. Five government representatives will be invited by the IOC as observers to the Games in Beijing. The agreement also calls for the transparent and fair election of a new, independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee, no later than the end of November 2008. This process will be overseen by the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia and will be held in cooperation with the Government of Iraq, and in accordance with the Olympic Charter.
“I commend the government of Iraq for reaching an agreement that serves the long-term interest of Iraqi athletes,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said. “We have said all along that we want to see Iraqi athletes in Beijing.”
The IOC helped establish an independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee in February 2004, and has provided substantial financial support and other assistance to Iraqi athletes. In May this year, the Iraqi government sought to disband the independent NOC and replace it with one headed by a government official - a clear violation of the Olympic Charter regarding government interference.
The IOC responded on 4 June by suspending the government-imposed committee. The IOC urged Iraqi officials to resolve the matter and issued an open invitation for a meeting in Lausanne.
The deadline for competitors entering the Beijing Olympic Games for all events except athletics passed on 23 July. As a result, the slots for five Iraqi athletes have been redistributed, but two Iraqi athletics competitors will have the opportunity to compete in Beijing.
“We look forward to seeing the Iraqi flag in Beijing,” Rogge said.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Fall of the old sports order in the Maldives, a perspective...
We are witnessing the disintegration of the Maldives sports system. The system was based on direct government management. Such practice however is no longer recognised by global sport bodies such as the IOC and the FIFA. International best practice in this day and age is the management of sports through civil society. This has never been the case in the Maldives. I believe this will be a necessary structural adjustment to enhance the growth of sport in the Maldives.
The urge for governments to intervene in sport development in their respective countries is not necessarily un-common. The point however is, how much "interference"? In our SAARC region, all governments have a stake in national sports development in a more direct manner than most European societies.
Sport is very much a European phenomena and as such, they have shown us how they have perfected this art. In Europe, sport developed principally through civil society mechanisms with governments mostly as helpful partners who recognised it's value to society. The Football Leagues of Europe are examples. In the US, the government actively pursued the development of sport through legislation. They eventually came out with their flagship sport product, a more commercial version, most recognised as "franchises".
Our region is way behind in institutionalising sport development. It has been governments and not civil bodies that have directly initiated national strategy and coverage through policy and funding. India has a government funded national Sports Authority. They however leave much of the policy and management to their civil society national associations. In the rest, more uncomfortable democracies, there is more government interference. For example Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh have required FIFA intervention to settle disputes. The IOC intervened in Nepal. National sport associations have been shaky with their civil society credentials. Maldives appear to have a pretty bad record. The undemocratic culture of our sports system is rapidly getting exposed in this people driven reform project.
The case of the Maldives
We are not looking at re-inventing the wheel! Experiences of best practice in countries outside of our region, have shown us systems of sport that have worked well. The defining features of these systems have been democracy and autonomy. That is independence from direct government interference and therefore the freedom to pursue funding not only from government, but also from public and other commercial ventures.
The general guideline is to let sport be a people thing and an activity that may not be used as a campaign tool for national leadership. It is time President Gayyoom stopped the abuse of the SAFF Trophy for his Presidential campaign. Ten island communities have protested against the Trophy tour as I write.
I believe sport can be more successfully moulded as a peoples' activity rather than a government activity. This is however possible, if the form of government in the country is a multi-party democracy. In one party dictatorships sport end up being part of the government machinery. The Communist system is a classic example. Wow! China is hosting the Olympics! Isn't it so complex!
What we are witnessing a process where a 30 year old one party dictatorship is placed under pressure to transform into a multi-party democracy. Documenting and analysing our sports experiences during this phase of rapid change will help us, if not others, understand the pitfalls of such transition.
The Experience
Our experience in this project have been both encouraging and bitter. We are encouraged that the government actually declared their intention to free up national sports associations. The declaration came in the form of the amended Article of Association or Law No. 1/2003 of of May that year.
The irony however is that this new law was not really meant to free up civil society. The real reason for getting this Law through was to replace the previous Articles of Association (No. 26/82). The problem with the previous Law was that it mentioned "parties" in addition to clubs and associations. The single party rule of President Gayyoom felt threatened that a group of reformists proposed to register a political party under the old 1982 law. The new law was therefore enacted to enable the government to erase all hints that a civil society association could be registered with the express objective of a classical political party.
There is ample evidence that amending the Articles of Association of 1982 had nothing to do with freeing up civil society. The amended Law of 2003 mandated associations already registered under the previous law to transit as per the new law within 12 months of ratification. The one year deadline expired in May 2004. Four years later (after a local court ruling in 2006 and the FIFA intervention in 2007) government registered NGOs such as national sports associations are conducting hurried elections with absolutely no regard for the new law. The government appointed Sports Council chaired by the Minister of Sports is overseeing elections! The Registrar of Clubs and Societies is not aware that elections are being held. Well...how about that! The whole thing is an eyewash. Deception... and a complete farce!
The single party government of President Gayyoom hoped to block the creation of political parties in the country. He hoped to mute reformist calls for system change. The Articles of Association ensured the separation of the concept of political parties from the usual issue specific civil society organisations. Political pluralism was the feared enemy!
The Result
The result however was not what the government had actually hoped for! The old Gayyoom government soon faced the biggest shock of its 30 year rule! In walks a young reformer in the name of Mohamed Nasheed (Anni). President Gayyoom had hoped the 2003 Articles of Association would make up for not allowing the formation of political parties. Within weeks of Nasheed's arrival from self exile in early 2005, the Maldives Parliament ratified a Presidential Decree to allow political parties.
A number of people expressed their concern that while issue specific meaningful civil society organisations were legalised through legislation, political parties were only "legal" through a mere Presidential Decree. This was however enough for the dynamic Nasheed to push his concept of multi-partyism into the heads of Maldivians. Political parties emerged! The incumbent government rushed to claim they too were a party. It was Kick-off...big time! The heat was on!
Where are we now?
We are now at the gates of transition. We are impatiently waiting for the ratification of a constitution that would guarantee us a multi-party democracy. It is within this transitional environment that the national associations that had been held back by government control are being forced into the public domain. The shock appears too much! The government machinery were unable to strategise a smooth transition. The hard fact is engraved in the simple logic that it is impossible for a Dictator to usher in Democratic Reform. This would be signing his own death warrant!
The remains of the Gayyoom one party state apparatus cringed! Entrenched government officials immediately scrammed to devise ways of holding onto these associations hoping it would help their political survival. The largest government sport association, the national FA ended up in the FIFA's lap for breaching it's Statutes. We welcomed this third party intervention. We hoped they would help us curb this governmental interference in sport.
We were rudely disappointed. The FIFA Official Dato' Paul of Malaysia unilaterally decided to maintain the status-quo and manipulate the FAM elections to ensure that only a mere 11 votes were counted out of over 90 valid votes. He then went ahead and endorsed the elections on behalf of the FIFA! Mind you, this was in breach of the FIFA Statutes! (Article 17). What was the good Dato's interest?
In the meantime our National Olympic Committee is merrily getting ready for the Olympics. We are not hearing about an election. The IOC seems content with the Maldives while they harp on about Iraq's government interfering into the affairs of their NOC.
Role of the International Sports Community
We are doing our bit. We have passed laws consistent with international best practice. We have gone out on the street to protest undemocratic FIFA backed elections of the FAM. It is time the International Sports Community recognised their obligations to ensure the rights of Maldivian sports bodies to operate without government interference in this country.
We need more "responsible" engagement. We call on the International Sports Community to live up to their fashionable claims of "corporate social responsibility"!
The urge for governments to intervene in sport development in their respective countries is not necessarily un-common. The point however is, how much "interference"? In our SAARC region, all governments have a stake in national sports development in a more direct manner than most European societies.
Sport is very much a European phenomena and as such, they have shown us how they have perfected this art. In Europe, sport developed principally through civil society mechanisms with governments mostly as helpful partners who recognised it's value to society. The Football Leagues of Europe are examples. In the US, the government actively pursued the development of sport through legislation. They eventually came out with their flagship sport product, a more commercial version, most recognised as "franchises".
Our region is way behind in institutionalising sport development. It has been governments and not civil bodies that have directly initiated national strategy and coverage through policy and funding. India has a government funded national Sports Authority. They however leave much of the policy and management to their civil society national associations. In the rest, more uncomfortable democracies, there is more government interference. For example Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh have required FIFA intervention to settle disputes. The IOC intervened in Nepal. National sport associations have been shaky with their civil society credentials. Maldives appear to have a pretty bad record. The undemocratic culture of our sports system is rapidly getting exposed in this people driven reform project.
The case of the Maldives
We are not looking at re-inventing the wheel! Experiences of best practice in countries outside of our region, have shown us systems of sport that have worked well. The defining features of these systems have been democracy and autonomy. That is independence from direct government interference and therefore the freedom to pursue funding not only from government, but also from public and other commercial ventures.
The general guideline is to let sport be a people thing and an activity that may not be used as a campaign tool for national leadership. It is time President Gayyoom stopped the abuse of the SAFF Trophy for his Presidential campaign. Ten island communities have protested against the Trophy tour as I write.
I believe sport can be more successfully moulded as a peoples' activity rather than a government activity. This is however possible, if the form of government in the country is a multi-party democracy. In one party dictatorships sport end up being part of the government machinery. The Communist system is a classic example. Wow! China is hosting the Olympics! Isn't it so complex!
What we are witnessing a process where a 30 year old one party dictatorship is placed under pressure to transform into a multi-party democracy. Documenting and analysing our sports experiences during this phase of rapid change will help us, if not others, understand the pitfalls of such transition.
The Experience
Our experience in this project have been both encouraging and bitter. We are encouraged that the government actually declared their intention to free up national sports associations. The declaration came in the form of the amended Article of Association or Law No. 1/2003 of of May that year.
The irony however is that this new law was not really meant to free up civil society. The real reason for getting this Law through was to replace the previous Articles of Association (No. 26/82). The problem with the previous Law was that it mentioned "parties" in addition to clubs and associations. The single party rule of President Gayyoom felt threatened that a group of reformists proposed to register a political party under the old 1982 law. The new law was therefore enacted to enable the government to erase all hints that a civil society association could be registered with the express objective of a classical political party.
There is ample evidence that amending the Articles of Association of 1982 had nothing to do with freeing up civil society. The amended Law of 2003 mandated associations already registered under the previous law to transit as per the new law within 12 months of ratification. The one year deadline expired in May 2004. Four years later (after a local court ruling in 2006 and the FIFA intervention in 2007) government registered NGOs such as national sports associations are conducting hurried elections with absolutely no regard for the new law. The government appointed Sports Council chaired by the Minister of Sports is overseeing elections! The Registrar of Clubs and Societies is not aware that elections are being held. Well...how about that! The whole thing is an eyewash. Deception... and a complete farce!
The single party government of President Gayyoom hoped to block the creation of political parties in the country. He hoped to mute reformist calls for system change. The Articles of Association ensured the separation of the concept of political parties from the usual issue specific civil society organisations. Political pluralism was the feared enemy!
The Result
The result however was not what the government had actually hoped for! The old Gayyoom government soon faced the biggest shock of its 30 year rule! In walks a young reformer in the name of Mohamed Nasheed (Anni). President Gayyoom had hoped the 2003 Articles of Association would make up for not allowing the formation of political parties. Within weeks of Nasheed's arrival from self exile in early 2005, the Maldives Parliament ratified a Presidential Decree to allow political parties.
A number of people expressed their concern that while issue specific meaningful civil society organisations were legalised through legislation, political parties were only "legal" through a mere Presidential Decree. This was however enough for the dynamic Nasheed to push his concept of multi-partyism into the heads of Maldivians. Political parties emerged! The incumbent government rushed to claim they too were a party. It was Kick-off...big time! The heat was on!
Where are we now?
We are now at the gates of transition. We are impatiently waiting for the ratification of a constitution that would guarantee us a multi-party democracy. It is within this transitional environment that the national associations that had been held back by government control are being forced into the public domain. The shock appears too much! The government machinery were unable to strategise a smooth transition. The hard fact is engraved in the simple logic that it is impossible for a Dictator to usher in Democratic Reform. This would be signing his own death warrant!
The remains of the Gayyoom one party state apparatus cringed! Entrenched government officials immediately scrammed to devise ways of holding onto these associations hoping it would help their political survival. The largest government sport association, the national FA ended up in the FIFA's lap for breaching it's Statutes. We welcomed this third party intervention. We hoped they would help us curb this governmental interference in sport.
We were rudely disappointed. The FIFA Official Dato' Paul of Malaysia unilaterally decided to maintain the status-quo and manipulate the FAM elections to ensure that only a mere 11 votes were counted out of over 90 valid votes. He then went ahead and endorsed the elections on behalf of the FIFA! Mind you, this was in breach of the FIFA Statutes! (Article 17). What was the good Dato's interest?
In the meantime our National Olympic Committee is merrily getting ready for the Olympics. We are not hearing about an election. The IOC seems content with the Maldives while they harp on about Iraq's government interfering into the affairs of their NOC.
Role of the International Sports Community
We are doing our bit. We have passed laws consistent with international best practice. We have gone out on the street to protest undemocratic FIFA backed elections of the FAM. It is time the International Sports Community recognised their obligations to ensure the rights of Maldivian sports bodies to operate without government interference in this country.
We need more "responsible" engagement. We call on the International Sports Community to live up to their fashionable claims of "corporate social responsibility"!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The civil society developement project through sport continues....
The first elections of the National FA in the capital Male' on 20 July was a watershed in the growth of civil society in the Maldives. I view this process within the context of the mega democratisation project the people of this country have embarked upon. I am a serious participant in this project. The process is fuelled by people committed to the cause. It is therefore appropriate that we get ourselves up to date on the ground reality at the time of this controversial FAM elections.
Articles of Association
The teachers of this country have decided to use our Articles of Association (Law No. 1/2003) to regain their rights and a decent living. The tourism workers followed suite. We now see sports groups joining in. Civil society exploded onto the national stage to the pleasant surprise of an unsuspecting public.
This development disturbed those officials who controlled these interest groups through institutionalised government mechanisms. They were loosing their grip! They were also unable to come up with a strategy that satisfied a crop of a sophisticated opposition they never thought existed. The government have been aloof and paternalistic to this unprecedented mega-democratisation project. They had so far only paid lip service to the people's calls for Reform. The intention was to fool the International Community. The International Community however do not appear to be fooled. It now appears that it is only the International Sport Community that have been fooled so far!
The International Sport Community
Civil society suddenly took new meaning. Into this rather explosive environment, enters the FIFA! A premier member of the "respected" International Sports Community. The Viceroy turned out to be the powerful Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation, Dato' Paul Mony Samuel. A "team spirit" of shocking proportion emerged between the government officials who were loosing their "grip" and the incoming FIFA Official who in reality came to save the FAM from this government grip!
The rather aloof Dato' Paul instead chose to turn a blind eye to calls for a strategy that would enable the FAM to transit into a meaningful civil society organisation. That is the installation of "members" rather than "individuals" into the FAM Interim Transition Committee. Requests to meet the good Viceroy were breezily brushed off! It appears our first meeting with the International Sports Community did not go too well. We need more engagement, more transparency. After all we are talking about civil society!
Government or Civil society?
The FA was an already established organisation bound by a culture of "government" rather than civil society. The government could comfortably be classified as an autocratic one party dictatorship. This was the point from which the transition process had to start.
Contrary to what we were led to believe as per the FIFA Statutes, it suddenly became brutally clear that the FIFA too were more interested in the "status-quo". They immediately endorsed the prevailing status-quo. They staged a "grand" elections with a flurry of activity by important FIFA and AFC Officials. Our "boys" were well mannered, pleasant and most of all obedient. They executed the project to the letter. By these standards Chairman Shahir definitely did a great job! They endorsed the associated corruption. The also endorsed by-passing 80 member clubs and granting the vote to a mere 11 "big" clubs. This amounted to just 12% of the Maldives Football "electorate".
So much for Article 17 of the FIFA Statutes! The FIFA Official Dato' Paul told the press that voting rights for a small number of clubs were "appropriate" for the Maldives. It may come as a surprise to the informed onlooker who probably remember that our Articles of Association beg to differ with this "unilateral" decision of the FIFA official. Our Articles of Association do not discriminate between "rich" and "poor" clubs. Neither did the FIFA Statutes!
But to our shock and horror Dato' Paul was more interested in the government machinery that have been holding the FAM hostage for the last few decades. The FIFA Statutes mandate the FIFA administration to free up such associations from government control! We have however seen the FIFA do the exact opposite.
I foresaw two possible reasons for the good Dato' to come to the conclusion that the interim committee must be composed NOT of "members" as per Article 17, BUT of "non-member individuals" of his choosing which was not consistent with this Article. The more innocent reason was to believe that the FIFA Official did not have had any idea of the mega-democratic transition project into which he had stepped into when he entered the territory of this 90 member strong Maldives Football Association. The other is more sinister. Control! by whatever means.
It eventually turned out that the FIFA preferred the "control" option rather than the "free-up" option. Interests naturally aligned well for both parties. Government represented by some "loose" minister on the one hand and the rather aloof FIFA Official Dato' Paul on the other.
This is definitely another setback for Maldives football. This time at the hands of the FIFA! By its own admission the FIFA official paternally admitted that the next elections will be FAIR! Oh, what Joy!
While the teachers and tourism workers are rapidly evolving into an exemplary model of democratic civil society, the FAM was moving backwards. One could argue that we were the "innocent" victims of corrupt forces that emanated from inside and outside of this country.
Corruption
Firstly, the fact that an international NGO, FIFA was allowed to intervene was tantamount to being caught with our pants down. It was corruption of the FA through government control that prompted the FIFA into action. But lo and behold, forces inside and outside of this country immediately aligned to secure one of the two hundred or so votes that made up FIFA. The result was a process so compromised that even dumb little Maldivians could not help the stink!
I was therefore compelled to post the following comment in our rather "silent", but well informed maldivesoccer website.
Article 17 clause 2 states "Any Member’s bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with the provisions of par. 1, even on an interim basis, shall not be recognised by FIFA". Granted that our interim committee was appointed as per par. 1, by FIFA and it was therefore an independent appointment, the starkly obvious requirement that a member's body shall consist of members, who are CLUBS leave the committee exposed! what a preposterous oversight even for FIFA and Dato Paul! Oh my....!!
Undemocratic
So what does this mean? The AFC suddenly comes out with allegations of corruption based on media reports of offers to buy votes from clubs contesting in the FAM elections! It appears this was a ruse to re-direct the gaze of an alert section of the football community from the real source of this corruption.
The real source of this corruption was the interim committee's undemocratic composition! That is the absence of members in a member's body. Instead, there were a handful of carefully selected individuals who did not represent member clubs. The question then is, does the FIFA Statutes mandate a FIFA Official to accommodate individuals rather than members as required by Article 17?
Terrible as it may sound, we have yet again been taken for a ride! Appointing individuals instead of representatives of member clubs appeared deliberate and did not have a legal or moral basis. The whole point of member's bodies was that the individuals representing a member clubs would be democratically elected and therefore accountable to the members of that club who in turn is accountable for it's good standing within the family of associated football clubs that make up the association.
The non-member "Individual" on the other hand have no one to be accountable to except he who appointed that "Individual". Therefore, the loyal Chairman, Shahir's assertion that he had conducted affairs as per strict orders from his appointees. The FIFA and AFC Officials who oversaw the congress admitted that all decisions were endorsed by the FIFA and the AFC. The "winners" seemed content!
Prescriptive paternalism
It therefore appears the FIFA prefers to be prescriptive. There appear to be no other reason for the FIFA to interpret Article 17 as permitting the appointment of individuals so that they will be answerable to FIFA to the exclusion of the association's members. If this is what FIFA means when they claim that it is their "corporate social responsibility" to democratise national associations, there may emerge a difference in opinion that stares in opposite directions.
Articles of Association
The teachers of this country have decided to use our Articles of Association (Law No. 1/2003) to regain their rights and a decent living. The tourism workers followed suite. We now see sports groups joining in. Civil society exploded onto the national stage to the pleasant surprise of an unsuspecting public.
This development disturbed those officials who controlled these interest groups through institutionalised government mechanisms. They were loosing their grip! They were also unable to come up with a strategy that satisfied a crop of a sophisticated opposition they never thought existed. The government have been aloof and paternalistic to this unprecedented mega-democratisation project. They had so far only paid lip service to the people's calls for Reform. The intention was to fool the International Community. The International Community however do not appear to be fooled. It now appears that it is only the International Sport Community that have been fooled so far!
The International Sport Community
Civil society suddenly took new meaning. Into this rather explosive environment, enters the FIFA! A premier member of the "respected" International Sports Community. The Viceroy turned out to be the powerful Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation, Dato' Paul Mony Samuel. A "team spirit" of shocking proportion emerged between the government officials who were loosing their "grip" and the incoming FIFA Official who in reality came to save the FAM from this government grip!
The rather aloof Dato' Paul instead chose to turn a blind eye to calls for a strategy that would enable the FAM to transit into a meaningful civil society organisation. That is the installation of "members" rather than "individuals" into the FAM Interim Transition Committee. Requests to meet the good Viceroy were breezily brushed off! It appears our first meeting with the International Sports Community did not go too well. We need more engagement, more transparency. After all we are talking about civil society!
Government or Civil society?
The FA was an already established organisation bound by a culture of "government" rather than civil society. The government could comfortably be classified as an autocratic one party dictatorship. This was the point from which the transition process had to start.
Contrary to what we were led to believe as per the FIFA Statutes, it suddenly became brutally clear that the FIFA too were more interested in the "status-quo". They immediately endorsed the prevailing status-quo. They staged a "grand" elections with a flurry of activity by important FIFA and AFC Officials. Our "boys" were well mannered, pleasant and most of all obedient. They executed the project to the letter. By these standards Chairman Shahir definitely did a great job! They endorsed the associated corruption. The also endorsed by-passing 80 member clubs and granting the vote to a mere 11 "big" clubs. This amounted to just 12% of the Maldives Football "electorate".
So much for Article 17 of the FIFA Statutes! The FIFA Official Dato' Paul told the press that voting rights for a small number of clubs were "appropriate" for the Maldives. It may come as a surprise to the informed onlooker who probably remember that our Articles of Association beg to differ with this "unilateral" decision of the FIFA official. Our Articles of Association do not discriminate between "rich" and "poor" clubs. Neither did the FIFA Statutes!
But to our shock and horror Dato' Paul was more interested in the government machinery that have been holding the FAM hostage for the last few decades. The FIFA Statutes mandate the FIFA administration to free up such associations from government control! We have however seen the FIFA do the exact opposite.
I foresaw two possible reasons for the good Dato' to come to the conclusion that the interim committee must be composed NOT of "members" as per Article 17, BUT of "non-member individuals" of his choosing which was not consistent with this Article. The more innocent reason was to believe that the FIFA Official did not have had any idea of the mega-democratic transition project into which he had stepped into when he entered the territory of this 90 member strong Maldives Football Association. The other is more sinister. Control! by whatever means.
It eventually turned out that the FIFA preferred the "control" option rather than the "free-up" option. Interests naturally aligned well for both parties. Government represented by some "loose" minister on the one hand and the rather aloof FIFA Official Dato' Paul on the other.
This is definitely another setback for Maldives football. This time at the hands of the FIFA! By its own admission the FIFA official paternally admitted that the next elections will be FAIR! Oh, what Joy!
While the teachers and tourism workers are rapidly evolving into an exemplary model of democratic civil society, the FAM was moving backwards. One could argue that we were the "innocent" victims of corrupt forces that emanated from inside and outside of this country.
Corruption
Firstly, the fact that an international NGO, FIFA was allowed to intervene was tantamount to being caught with our pants down. It was corruption of the FA through government control that prompted the FIFA into action. But lo and behold, forces inside and outside of this country immediately aligned to secure one of the two hundred or so votes that made up FIFA. The result was a process so compromised that even dumb little Maldivians could not help the stink!
I was therefore compelled to post the following comment in our rather "silent", but well informed maldivesoccer website.
Article 17 clause 2 states "Any Member’s bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with the provisions of par. 1, even on an interim basis, shall not be recognised by FIFA". Granted that our interim committee was appointed as per par. 1, by FIFA and it was therefore an independent appointment, the starkly obvious requirement that a member's body shall consist of members, who are CLUBS leave the committee exposed! what a preposterous oversight even for FIFA and Dato Paul! Oh my....!!
Undemocratic
So what does this mean? The AFC suddenly comes out with allegations of corruption based on media reports of offers to buy votes from clubs contesting in the FAM elections! It appears this was a ruse to re-direct the gaze of an alert section of the football community from the real source of this corruption.
The real source of this corruption was the interim committee's undemocratic composition! That is the absence of members in a member's body. Instead, there were a handful of carefully selected individuals who did not represent member clubs. The question then is, does the FIFA Statutes mandate a FIFA Official to accommodate individuals rather than members as required by Article 17?
Terrible as it may sound, we have yet again been taken for a ride! Appointing individuals instead of representatives of member clubs appeared deliberate and did not have a legal or moral basis. The whole point of member's bodies was that the individuals representing a member clubs would be democratically elected and therefore accountable to the members of that club who in turn is accountable for it's good standing within the family of associated football clubs that make up the association.
The non-member "Individual" on the other hand have no one to be accountable to except he who appointed that "Individual". Therefore, the loyal Chairman, Shahir's assertion that he had conducted affairs as per strict orders from his appointees. The FIFA and AFC Officials who oversaw the congress admitted that all decisions were endorsed by the FIFA and the AFC. The "winners" seemed content!
Prescriptive paternalism
It therefore appears the FIFA prefers to be prescriptive. There appear to be no other reason for the FIFA to interpret Article 17 as permitting the appointment of individuals so that they will be answerable to FIFA to the exclusion of the association's members. If this is what FIFA means when they claim that it is their "corporate social responsibility" to democratise national associations, there may emerge a difference in opinion that stares in opposite directions.
FAM conducts national elections with 11 votes!
The FAM conducted its first ever elections with a mere eleven (11) clubs, 9.00am this morning at the Social Education Center in Male'. The AFC and FIFA were present.
Ex-national players, Dhonbiley Ahmed Haleem, Ahmed Shaahid (Saabe) and I with a number of Atoll as well as Male' based clubs are lobbying to get VOTING RIGHTS for over 60 FIFA recognised clubs in the country. Over 80 clubs participate in FAM organised competitions annually.
We went to the Congress venue this morning and appealed to all 11 voters to discontinue this discriminatory practice and join our lobby to get voting rights for all member clubs. Unfortunately none of the eleven clubs were willing to consider this for the time being.
We feel the reason for this reluctance is a lack of UNDERSTANDING of the issues at stake and intense FEAR. Our clubs have been abused by a state system that have restricted civil society development through a 1982 law. This law was overturned in 2003. It appears 4 years is not enough to calm the nerves of these clubs. Our media suffers from the same condition as the clubs. Years of media restriction have not developed journalists, especially sports journalists with the knowledge and appreciation for sport and it's specific nature.
The intimidation was very apparant. When we turned up at the venu, there was significant police presence, some in rather "sporting" gear! We also enjoyed the presence of a few "boys" who had a reputation for manipulating public opinion through intimidation. We were warned by one of the candidates (who probably sent the "boys") that we will also be arrested if we protested this morning. Therefore corruption and intimidation is the norm rather than the exception.
It is however been very perplexing that the FIFA and the AFC sent officials to oversee this elections that were conducted in violation of not only Maldivian laws of association, but FIFA Statutes as well. We have yet to see how this case holds up in Maldivian courts and International Court of Arbitration for Sports in Geneva.
New Radiant's Azim and Hiyalee Mohamed Rasheed from Valencia managed the majority of these 11 votes to win the Presidency and Vice Presidency respectively.
Ex-national players, Dhonbiley Ahmed Haleem, Ahmed Shaahid (Saabe) and I with a number of Atoll as well as Male' based clubs are lobbying to get VOTING RIGHTS for over 60 FIFA recognised clubs in the country. Over 80 clubs participate in FAM organised competitions annually.
We went to the Congress venue this morning and appealed to all 11 voters to discontinue this discriminatory practice and join our lobby to get voting rights for all member clubs. Unfortunately none of the eleven clubs were willing to consider this for the time being.
We feel the reason for this reluctance is a lack of UNDERSTANDING of the issues at stake and intense FEAR. Our clubs have been abused by a state system that have restricted civil society development through a 1982 law. This law was overturned in 2003. It appears 4 years is not enough to calm the nerves of these clubs. Our media suffers from the same condition as the clubs. Years of media restriction have not developed journalists, especially sports journalists with the knowledge and appreciation for sport and it's specific nature.
The intimidation was very apparant. When we turned up at the venu, there was significant police presence, some in rather "sporting" gear! We also enjoyed the presence of a few "boys" who had a reputation for manipulating public opinion through intimidation. We were warned by one of the candidates (who probably sent the "boys") that we will also be arrested if we protested this morning. Therefore corruption and intimidation is the norm rather than the exception.
It is however been very perplexing that the FIFA and the AFC sent officials to oversee this elections that were conducted in violation of not only Maldivian laws of association, but FIFA Statutes as well. We have yet to see how this case holds up in Maldivian courts and International Court of Arbitration for Sports in Geneva.
New Radiant's Azim and Hiyalee Mohamed Rasheed from Valencia managed the majority of these 11 votes to win the Presidency and Vice Presidency respectively.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Dare to be “Little Brazil”?... Imagine!
In the late nineties a little island near Male’, by the name of HURAA became a football icon. They contributed eight players to the National Team that eventually lost to India in the Goa SAFF Cup. At that competition commentators referred to Huraa as the “little Brazil” of Maldives. The fact however is, that it is not only the island of Huraa that is a little Brazil. Most of our 200 inhabited islands are teaming with talent. The whole of Maldives can be turned into a little Brazil if the we dare take up such a challenge?
Now that we have won the SAFF Cup and our football loving public have shown us in what high regard they held football success, our government school system will be forced to admit that their kids love football. In our island communities young fishermen and kids alike, lighten up their life with a kick around. The typical island village support a thousand or so people. A baby boom has created an enormous pool of talent on the streets of our peaceful islands. Safe island streets are home to neighborhood teams. Schools are usually forced to make at times half hearted attempts to have a competition of sorts at least once a year or less. Football Kids have not been taken seriously in the past.
Older island players visit neighboring islands seeking competition. The annual Atoll, Zone and Nationals are unable to cater for the mass of kids, amateur and recreational players hungry for organized competition. Football need a major "sport for all" type approach to tap this potential.
WASTED TALENT
What I am trying to get across here very quickly is that the present football system in the Maldives is not tapping this immense talent pool. It merely scratches the surface. But we have made many finals at the South Asia level and eventually won Gold by beating mighty India all the same. Just for good measure, we have tickled both China and South Korea in past World Cup qualifiers. Wonderful spirit!
MANAGEMENT
We have a badly managed, but elaborate school system. We also have a badly managed but regular club competition. Both managed directly by government officials. The problem is we have not moved with the times.
The FAM is stuck with an old idea. There are glimmers of hope however. Unrecognized and unforeseen to the "authorities", there is an emerging football culture of localized island and atoll based competitions initiated by socially enterprising island based clubs. They visit other islands seeking competition and invite teams from neighboring islands to play in small centralized format mostly to celebrate occasions such as both Eids. A problem they face however is the lack of Referees!
The government run FAM has failed to satisfy the appetite for football in more ways than one. They have concentrated on building a football structure only on the capital island. Male’ have an elaborate league of 6, 10 and 12 teams in first, second and third divisions respectively. The Male’ based inter school competition initiated in the mid eighties that provided the last generation of players have all but disappeared within a decade.
There is no point talking about President Gayyoom’s stream of mad sports ministers and other senior “government officials” in sectors such as Education, Atolls and Tourism who have impacted sport. Their total disregard for sport as a worthy developmental tool have dashed the hopes of a decent sport system evolving in these islands. The government saw sport as a tool to suppress people’s collective identity. You shall not be more popular than my island chief, the Katheeb!
The wards of Male’, represented by local football giants such as New Radiant (Henveiru ward), Victory (Ghalolhu ward) have barely survived this inhumane policy. Lagoons, representing the Machangoali ward disappeared after a brief bright spell in the early nineties. A club from Maafannu have not materialized for the past two decades while Vilingili , a satellite island 10 minutes boat ride from central Male' have emerged in the form of Vyansa. They are already in the Male' first division. There was, understandably no motivation! Huraa managed for a while with philanthropic backing of a nearby resort owned by the Sports Minister Deen.
The gross indecency of this rampant policy has not only suppressed the growth of sport. It has retarded the growth of sports. Killed players Spirits! Killed that sense of Fair Play! The result is an election with a mere 11 voting members from Male' clubs to decide the fate of Football in this country. This is a sentiment echoed, rather softly however, by the influential maldivesoccer website. http://maldivesoccer.net/v4/index.php?page=story&id=2050
A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
We have change on our horizon. We must be ready. We must now look ahead. The FAM must plan for the future. We need to now get a few structural adjustments implemented immediately. I will therefore focus on three of these concepts that I feel need urgent attention.
The first one is at the grassroots level. That is the right of clubs to actively strengthen their collective football identity through an “empowering” competition format. Implementation of the Home and Away Rule will hopefully do the trick. The second is how to get this done? This can be done through the decentralization of football management to atoll based associations who shall manage their own atoll league. The national body will be responsible for a limited number of National Competitions and general policy. The third is what to do we do with all these roaming kids!
HOME AND AWAY RULE
The atolls will conduct an exciting home and away competition that will keep the island communities excited and entertained. No inhabited island in any atoll is further than three hours travel. Island representative teams will play a seasonal home and away league to select their Atoll Champion. We will witness a booming sport tourism industry with a significant increase in day and overnight trips to watch their teams play. If only there was a nationwide transport network to support this travel explosion! But for the time being, the fishermen footballers will handle this, thank you! Their passion for the game will produce a VIP football travel service in their fishing vessels. I have seen this in action! But only if you would leave people alone to do their own football!
I have witnessed island communities stage events requiring mind boggling logistics. Host islands have created an atmosphere of immense excitement and celebration for the whole community during competitions. The whole island chips in. They are proud to play host. Some of those World Cup hosts could learn a thing or two from our island administrators. You could get served lobster with first class service from top class local chefs and waiters home from their tourism jobs, on holiday for these celebrations. I have seen islands “broadcast” their commentary “live” through the old walkie-talkies from specially constructed towers! Just imagine what we will do with FM radio, our Wataniya 3-G mobiles and the Internet!
The present policy makers will scream gloom and doom at such a proposition. They will tell you that we will have “riot competitions” instead of football competitions. They do not have faith in the people's ability to do their football on their own steam. The old guards interpret life, fun and a bit of boisterousness as rioting! Police intervention in riot gear is their favorite solution. The new administrators will handle this structurally. They will devolve power to atoll associations. They will handle this through education, football rules and as a vibrant civil society organization that will eventually lobby for sport legislation in order to safeguard their sport! Football will then flourish in the atolls.
DECENTRALIZED ATOLL LEAGUES
The second concept is decentralization. Atoll associations will have the right to work on their own development plans within the wider framework outlined by the policy making national body’s Congress and Executive Committee. The atoll associations will be granted a budget and administrative staff with the required training. Club management will be streamlined. The law will be respected. Discipline will be maintained with well formulated regulation and systematic education. A little more carrot than stick! (Errr….we have been getting a lot more stick these days!) Football ground upgrading on feasible scale will hopefully materialize with proactive government and public/private partnerships. Islands will bid to host their atoll qualifying. Atolls will bid for hosting Zone qualifying rounds. Such latitude have unfortunately not been possible with the present exclusionary, autocratic, centralized, politically undisciplined, ideological structure of national governance.
Zonal and National Leagues will be managed by the central national association. One could imagine the first practical step towards this fancy idea as formulating a North, Central and Southern League. There could be two teams from the Central or Male' League to represent a third of the total population based there. The North and South will initially come up with one team each making a four (4) team Dhivehi League final round.
We may speculate that the national league may have a second team qualify from the North and South in the years to come. This will eventually increase the Premier Dhivehi League to a six (6) team home and away final round to select the National League Champion. Let’s hope Dhiraagu will be there with a bit more cash once we get better organized. Wataniya should not be discounted! We can surely attract businesses with a sense of corporate social responsibility to chip in. Who knows if our future Premier League could be sporting Dolphin Free Tuna!
The Northern League of four zone champions could in the initial years play a centralized league round say in the Haa Dhaalu Khulhudhufushu Zone Stadium while the South League can center in Seenu Hithadhoo Zone Stadium. We brought football to the people at the atoll level through the home and away Atoll League format. The zonal level will have to wait and be restricted to a central venue until the necessary transport infrastructure evolves.
I imagine the new equivalent of the Premier Dhivehi League will initially have four teams playing a 12 game home and away format where a savvy FAM President will convince either Island Aviation or one of the Air Taxi operators to chip in with the travel. It will be now possible to see, say, New Radiant and VB from the Central Male’ League play in Maglas Club’s home turf up North on the weekend and to see VB fight their brothers in Thinadhoo down South the same weekend. Imagine the crowds…..err, when we recover from this economic mess. We could manage to get going within the span of only a few years. Perhaps not a bad kick off for our journey towards that Little Brazil status we will so dare boast about in the years to come. The clubs need to see meaningful change to regain faith in the system.
AAAH…ALL THOSE KIDS!
So what about those kids? The new FAM will maintain that, it will be those kids who will eventually tip the balance in favor of our dream. The future of the Little Brazil brand! Our small island communities are teaming with kids looking for a recreational outlet. Traffic free streets offer a starting point for a most innovative youth development program. God forbid, if we ever develop a national transport network, and get a decent tax structure to finance our cultural security, we could keep our population in comfort in the island of their choice. We will thereby easily create the safest and most natural island environment that could build amazing ball skills. Asia will be jealous! How many Dhangadey’s will we produce?
If only we could scrap that 25% duty off sports goods. If only we could have convinced those fake pseudo-intellectual Doctors of Philosophy who scrapped what was left of the Male’ Inter school football competitions. It would have at least eased to some extent, the talent glut we will face in the years to come, essentially due to the absence of this school competition. I was impressed by a remark made by one of our senior national goalkeeper, Zariandhu. He observes that the FAM Youth Development program has nothing to do with talent identification or for that matter talent development. He saw the program as a physical activity session for a well to do overweight class of Male’ residents! What insight!
The inter school is a must. The question of the collective school identity comes up again. The old guards will claim that student pass rates have dropped since the Inter school started. They will then follow up with the argument parents are demanding the schools concentrate on study, not sports. Meanwhile parents are actually lining up for more sport opportunities for their children.
I have had the President’s office on my back with such garbage! I even had a past Tourism Minister claim that tourist resorts found it troublesome with so many staff seeking leave to go and play for their island teams during the Football season.
We had two options to combat the Tourism Ministers ramblings. One was to schedule the league during the off season (monsoons) when it was rainy and the seas were too rough for inter-island travel. The more attractive option would have been to “stuff” the Tourism Minister and seek the cooperation of resort management to become a partner in this massive national social development project! But aaaaagh…! Government Policy!
And now back to these school kids. The pass rates are shameful anyway. Anyone with a decent high school education in this day and age understands that it is not sport that plummets the pass rates. It is bad management, lack of accountability and so on. Someone, please sort those striking teachers' salaries! Do not allow such ignorant technocrat/pseudo-politicians to use sport as a scapegoat for the ills of their bad policies. The FAM should fight back. The association can convince parents that, if any, sport involvement improve pass rates. Sport is a discipline and it should be managed as such. Yes, you can play street football and have excellent discipline….like avoiding angry traffic! In fact you can average A- grades. Kids do not have to be nerds to be intelligent. There is abundant proof. They even say there are intelligent football players!
Schools need their Physical Education revamped in line with national sport achievement goals. Schools need expertise in sport management and administration. Believe you me those school principals love the limelight when their school teams win. And they deserve it too! This limelight however seems to be precisely the very reasons why the Education Ministry scrapped inter school competitions. Headmasters getting too popular! Eeeeeks…!
A WIN- WIN FOR FOOTBALL AND TOURISM
This is the icing on the cake! We have a vibrant tourism industry. The love affair the FAM can have with the tourism industry knows no bounds. Imagine a separate system of Inter-resort Beach Soccer that would attract world stars to our exclusively branded Maldives Beach Soccer Classic. How about hosting an AFC or a FIFA Congress occasionally? Surely, even President Blatter would love a little bit of peace and quiet from all those fights he has with the Premier League and the EU. How about a “Tropical Stadium” or a “Maldives Stadium” in Hulu-Male'. Why not say an exclusive "Island Stadium" that could host exclusive clubs? What? Did you say Manchester United?
Asia look-out! Little Brazil will roar! Candidates, this is your challenge!
Now that we have won the SAFF Cup and our football loving public have shown us in what high regard they held football success, our government school system will be forced to admit that their kids love football. In our island communities young fishermen and kids alike, lighten up their life with a kick around. The typical island village support a thousand or so people. A baby boom has created an enormous pool of talent on the streets of our peaceful islands. Safe island streets are home to neighborhood teams. Schools are usually forced to make at times half hearted attempts to have a competition of sorts at least once a year or less. Football Kids have not been taken seriously in the past.
Older island players visit neighboring islands seeking competition. The annual Atoll, Zone and Nationals are unable to cater for the mass of kids, amateur and recreational players hungry for organized competition. Football need a major "sport for all" type approach to tap this potential.
WASTED TALENT
What I am trying to get across here very quickly is that the present football system in the Maldives is not tapping this immense talent pool. It merely scratches the surface. But we have made many finals at the South Asia level and eventually won Gold by beating mighty India all the same. Just for good measure, we have tickled both China and South Korea in past World Cup qualifiers. Wonderful spirit!
MANAGEMENT
We have a badly managed, but elaborate school system. We also have a badly managed but regular club competition. Both managed directly by government officials. The problem is we have not moved with the times.
The FAM is stuck with an old idea. There are glimmers of hope however. Unrecognized and unforeseen to the "authorities", there is an emerging football culture of localized island and atoll based competitions initiated by socially enterprising island based clubs. They visit other islands seeking competition and invite teams from neighboring islands to play in small centralized format mostly to celebrate occasions such as both Eids. A problem they face however is the lack of Referees!
The government run FAM has failed to satisfy the appetite for football in more ways than one. They have concentrated on building a football structure only on the capital island. Male’ have an elaborate league of 6, 10 and 12 teams in first, second and third divisions respectively. The Male’ based inter school competition initiated in the mid eighties that provided the last generation of players have all but disappeared within a decade.
There is no point talking about President Gayyoom’s stream of mad sports ministers and other senior “government officials” in sectors such as Education, Atolls and Tourism who have impacted sport. Their total disregard for sport as a worthy developmental tool have dashed the hopes of a decent sport system evolving in these islands. The government saw sport as a tool to suppress people’s collective identity. You shall not be more popular than my island chief, the Katheeb!
The wards of Male’, represented by local football giants such as New Radiant (Henveiru ward), Victory (Ghalolhu ward) have barely survived this inhumane policy. Lagoons, representing the Machangoali ward disappeared after a brief bright spell in the early nineties. A club from Maafannu have not materialized for the past two decades while Vilingili , a satellite island 10 minutes boat ride from central Male' have emerged in the form of Vyansa. They are already in the Male' first division. There was, understandably no motivation! Huraa managed for a while with philanthropic backing of a nearby resort owned by the Sports Minister Deen.
The gross indecency of this rampant policy has not only suppressed the growth of sport. It has retarded the growth of sports. Killed players Spirits! Killed that sense of Fair Play! The result is an election with a mere 11 voting members from Male' clubs to decide the fate of Football in this country. This is a sentiment echoed, rather softly however, by the influential maldivesoccer website. http://maldivesoccer.net/v4/index.php?page=story&id=2050
A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
We have change on our horizon. We must be ready. We must now look ahead. The FAM must plan for the future. We need to now get a few structural adjustments implemented immediately. I will therefore focus on three of these concepts that I feel need urgent attention.
The first one is at the grassroots level. That is the right of clubs to actively strengthen their collective football identity through an “empowering” competition format. Implementation of the Home and Away Rule will hopefully do the trick. The second is how to get this done? This can be done through the decentralization of football management to atoll based associations who shall manage their own atoll league. The national body will be responsible for a limited number of National Competitions and general policy. The third is what to do we do with all these roaming kids!
HOME AND AWAY RULE
The atolls will conduct an exciting home and away competition that will keep the island communities excited and entertained. No inhabited island in any atoll is further than three hours travel. Island representative teams will play a seasonal home and away league to select their Atoll Champion. We will witness a booming sport tourism industry with a significant increase in day and overnight trips to watch their teams play. If only there was a nationwide transport network to support this travel explosion! But for the time being, the fishermen footballers will handle this, thank you! Their passion for the game will produce a VIP football travel service in their fishing vessels. I have seen this in action! But only if you would leave people alone to do their own football!
I have witnessed island communities stage events requiring mind boggling logistics. Host islands have created an atmosphere of immense excitement and celebration for the whole community during competitions. The whole island chips in. They are proud to play host. Some of those World Cup hosts could learn a thing or two from our island administrators. You could get served lobster with first class service from top class local chefs and waiters home from their tourism jobs, on holiday for these celebrations. I have seen islands “broadcast” their commentary “live” through the old walkie-talkies from specially constructed towers! Just imagine what we will do with FM radio, our Wataniya 3-G mobiles and the Internet!
The present policy makers will scream gloom and doom at such a proposition. They will tell you that we will have “riot competitions” instead of football competitions. They do not have faith in the people's ability to do their football on their own steam. The old guards interpret life, fun and a bit of boisterousness as rioting! Police intervention in riot gear is their favorite solution. The new administrators will handle this structurally. They will devolve power to atoll associations. They will handle this through education, football rules and as a vibrant civil society organization that will eventually lobby for sport legislation in order to safeguard their sport! Football will then flourish in the atolls.
DECENTRALIZED ATOLL LEAGUES
The second concept is decentralization. Atoll associations will have the right to work on their own development plans within the wider framework outlined by the policy making national body’s Congress and Executive Committee. The atoll associations will be granted a budget and administrative staff with the required training. Club management will be streamlined. The law will be respected. Discipline will be maintained with well formulated regulation and systematic education. A little more carrot than stick! (Errr….we have been getting a lot more stick these days!) Football ground upgrading on feasible scale will hopefully materialize with proactive government and public/private partnerships. Islands will bid to host their atoll qualifying. Atolls will bid for hosting Zone qualifying rounds. Such latitude have unfortunately not been possible with the present exclusionary, autocratic, centralized, politically undisciplined, ideological structure of national governance.
Zonal and National Leagues will be managed by the central national association. One could imagine the first practical step towards this fancy idea as formulating a North, Central and Southern League. There could be two teams from the Central or Male' League to represent a third of the total population based there. The North and South will initially come up with one team each making a four (4) team Dhivehi League final round.
We may speculate that the national league may have a second team qualify from the North and South in the years to come. This will eventually increase the Premier Dhivehi League to a six (6) team home and away final round to select the National League Champion. Let’s hope Dhiraagu will be there with a bit more cash once we get better organized. Wataniya should not be discounted! We can surely attract businesses with a sense of corporate social responsibility to chip in. Who knows if our future Premier League could be sporting Dolphin Free Tuna!
The Northern League of four zone champions could in the initial years play a centralized league round say in the Haa Dhaalu Khulhudhufushu Zone Stadium while the South League can center in Seenu Hithadhoo Zone Stadium. We brought football to the people at the atoll level through the home and away Atoll League format. The zonal level will have to wait and be restricted to a central venue until the necessary transport infrastructure evolves.
I imagine the new equivalent of the Premier Dhivehi League will initially have four teams playing a 12 game home and away format where a savvy FAM President will convince either Island Aviation or one of the Air Taxi operators to chip in with the travel. It will be now possible to see, say, New Radiant and VB from the Central Male’ League play in Maglas Club’s home turf up North on the weekend and to see VB fight their brothers in Thinadhoo down South the same weekend. Imagine the crowds…..err, when we recover from this economic mess. We could manage to get going within the span of only a few years. Perhaps not a bad kick off for our journey towards that Little Brazil status we will so dare boast about in the years to come. The clubs need to see meaningful change to regain faith in the system.
AAAH…ALL THOSE KIDS!
So what about those kids? The new FAM will maintain that, it will be those kids who will eventually tip the balance in favor of our dream. The future of the Little Brazil brand! Our small island communities are teaming with kids looking for a recreational outlet. Traffic free streets offer a starting point for a most innovative youth development program. God forbid, if we ever develop a national transport network, and get a decent tax structure to finance our cultural security, we could keep our population in comfort in the island of their choice. We will thereby easily create the safest and most natural island environment that could build amazing ball skills. Asia will be jealous! How many Dhangadey’s will we produce?
If only we could scrap that 25% duty off sports goods. If only we could have convinced those fake pseudo-intellectual Doctors of Philosophy who scrapped what was left of the Male’ Inter school football competitions. It would have at least eased to some extent, the talent glut we will face in the years to come, essentially due to the absence of this school competition. I was impressed by a remark made by one of our senior national goalkeeper, Zariandhu. He observes that the FAM Youth Development program has nothing to do with talent identification or for that matter talent development. He saw the program as a physical activity session for a well to do overweight class of Male’ residents! What insight!
The inter school is a must. The question of the collective school identity comes up again. The old guards will claim that student pass rates have dropped since the Inter school started. They will then follow up with the argument parents are demanding the schools concentrate on study, not sports. Meanwhile parents are actually lining up for more sport opportunities for their children.
I have had the President’s office on my back with such garbage! I even had a past Tourism Minister claim that tourist resorts found it troublesome with so many staff seeking leave to go and play for their island teams during the Football season.
We had two options to combat the Tourism Ministers ramblings. One was to schedule the league during the off season (monsoons) when it was rainy and the seas were too rough for inter-island travel. The more attractive option would have been to “stuff” the Tourism Minister and seek the cooperation of resort management to become a partner in this massive national social development project! But aaaaagh…! Government Policy!
And now back to these school kids. The pass rates are shameful anyway. Anyone with a decent high school education in this day and age understands that it is not sport that plummets the pass rates. It is bad management, lack of accountability and so on. Someone, please sort those striking teachers' salaries! Do not allow such ignorant technocrat/pseudo-politicians to use sport as a scapegoat for the ills of their bad policies. The FAM should fight back. The association can convince parents that, if any, sport involvement improve pass rates. Sport is a discipline and it should be managed as such. Yes, you can play street football and have excellent discipline….like avoiding angry traffic! In fact you can average A- grades. Kids do not have to be nerds to be intelligent. There is abundant proof. They even say there are intelligent football players!
Schools need their Physical Education revamped in line with national sport achievement goals. Schools need expertise in sport management and administration. Believe you me those school principals love the limelight when their school teams win. And they deserve it too! This limelight however seems to be precisely the very reasons why the Education Ministry scrapped inter school competitions. Headmasters getting too popular! Eeeeeks…!
A WIN- WIN FOR FOOTBALL AND TOURISM
This is the icing on the cake! We have a vibrant tourism industry. The love affair the FAM can have with the tourism industry knows no bounds. Imagine a separate system of Inter-resort Beach Soccer that would attract world stars to our exclusively branded Maldives Beach Soccer Classic. How about hosting an AFC or a FIFA Congress occasionally? Surely, even President Blatter would love a little bit of peace and quiet from all those fights he has with the Premier League and the EU. How about a “Tropical Stadium” or a “Maldives Stadium” in Hulu-Male'. Why not say an exclusive "Island Stadium" that could host exclusive clubs? What? Did you say Manchester United?
Asia look-out! Little Brazil will roar! Candidates, this is your challenge!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Are the 11 Football Votes up for Sale?
The general feedback from my previous posts of 7 and 8 July indicated a predisposition on the part of commentators to go for the PERSON rather than the ISSUE!
This is understandable. We cannot discount the significance of the larger political context within which this election is being played out. Azim and Kaleem's backgrounds and reputations within this larger political context naturally took precedence.
Another feature was the tendency to speculate on the cross cutting political forces impacting the behaviour of these candidates. It appears all political forces emanate from interests closely allied with the government/DRP.
No coincidence!
This is not a coincidence! It is only to be expected. The FIFA, courtesy of the good Dato', I suspect, was one of the first casualties. He declared (dictated) five "choice individuals" to the Interim Committee, apparently with FIFA consultation!
The Interim Committee followed suite as "dictated" by its composition. This committee, "brokered" by the good Dato' was entrusted by the world parent body, the FIFA to be the guardian of Maldivian football and by default the SAFF Cup, until a new administration is elected. But the FIFA committee unilaterally "loaned" President Gayyoom the SAFF Cup for his campaign. The latest news is that the Cup was damaged as police "saved" it from a mob in Noonu Velidhoo. This is as I write!
Football have made high profile history and exposed plenty of "deadwood"! We must thank our SAFF Cup winning National Team for their timely intervention. There is no better moment to unite Maldivians through football than now.
Now, it is going to be the "elected" President and the Executive Committee that have to wriggle free from the shackles of this dominant government that have dictated everything from policy to chief guests and finally the infamous jersey number, the classic No. 1, MAUMOON!
It is absolutely foolish to believe that President Gayyoom and his cronies can still "stage manage" the FAM elections. Acting on such an assumption will not be in the interest of the candidates.
Confusion!
One, rather sympathetic observer commented that candidates "....please do not take the post cos you want to empower, but take it cos you want to serve for a better future...".
The comment reflects the disengagement we have suffered from the political processes that impact our everyday life. Sport, have not been spared! The word "politics" itself have been conceived as a threat! It throws us out of our "comfort zone". Such is the power of the fear psychosis instilled in us by good old President Gayyoom. How can one serve for a better future without empowering the people who in turn have to work tirelessly to ensure this better future?
Considering the elections are to be held some 4 days after the entry deadline of 16 July, is it too late to urge the candidates to state their plans for the association?
Policy
A general guideline of his policy direction will suffice.
Male'-centric football model: For example, are we going to continue with the Male'-centric football model, akin to the "kuda-sitee" culture which required "islanders" or "rah-fushu meehun" to get a permit to land on the capital island Male'. Though the practice ceased to exist some years back, the incumbent government have deliberately maintained the culture. The voting structure under which the FIFA Interim Committee have opened up these elections is a shining example of the dominence of this disturbing mentality!
Take football to the islands: Would the candidate depart from such anti-development norms? Would he rather take football to the people. Those thousands of fans living out there in the 200 inhabited islands. And, can we make football a celebration that dominate their everyday life? To look forward to that weekend encounter! Will he host elite Male' teams in the zone stadiums of the north and south to build confidence? Will he have the "balls" to depart from this ingrained culture of centralised governance?
Home and away rule: Will he decentralise the atolls into associations who in turn will be empowered to conduct home and away island leagues at the local, atoll level. The European experience have taught us that a key ingredient of their success was the home and away rule.
Local identity: How will the new President empower clubs to once again regain their local identities, the "avashu" or ward club, " rashu" or island clubs, atoll representative clubs? These are basic ingredients, the RIGHTS necessary to get a truly national football network up and running. "Avah" and "rashu" identities have been stifled by Gayyoom's government to serve his own political motives! Will the candidates support procedures on say, how New Radiant can become the official Henveiru club and Victory the official Ghalolhu Club. How will the candidates inspire youth into football culture? How do they plan to make football flourish?
Passion and commerce: How aware are the candidates of the underlying passion with which Maldivians have embraced football and the immense opportunities this opens up for modern commercial initiatives? We ran out of merchandised jerseys, flags and what not last month during the SAFF Cup. Some young football journalists have already raised some or most of these issues in our premier football website maldivesoccer.com.
Are these votes worth the price?
We must be alert to the challenges that lie ahead for the new FA President. Apart from the legitimacy of the elections and his future public standing, the candidate also have the un-envious task of guiding the association away from the claws of a fledgling government that would cling onto anything for political survival. Is Kaleem and Azim up to the challenge? How well are they placed to guide the FAM from the claws of such powerful interest groups?
So, the question! Are the 11 votes up for sale, and if so is the price worth it?
This is understandable. We cannot discount the significance of the larger political context within which this election is being played out. Azim and Kaleem's backgrounds and reputations within this larger political context naturally took precedence.
Another feature was the tendency to speculate on the cross cutting political forces impacting the behaviour of these candidates. It appears all political forces emanate from interests closely allied with the government/DRP.
No coincidence!
This is not a coincidence! It is only to be expected. The FIFA, courtesy of the good Dato', I suspect, was one of the first casualties. He declared (dictated) five "choice individuals" to the Interim Committee, apparently with FIFA consultation!
The Interim Committee followed suite as "dictated" by its composition. This committee, "brokered" by the good Dato' was entrusted by the world parent body, the FIFA to be the guardian of Maldivian football and by default the SAFF Cup, until a new administration is elected. But the FIFA committee unilaterally "loaned" President Gayyoom the SAFF Cup for his campaign. The latest news is that the Cup was damaged as police "saved" it from a mob in Noonu Velidhoo. This is as I write!
Football have made high profile history and exposed plenty of "deadwood"! We must thank our SAFF Cup winning National Team for their timely intervention. There is no better moment to unite Maldivians through football than now.
Now, it is going to be the "elected" President and the Executive Committee that have to wriggle free from the shackles of this dominant government that have dictated everything from policy to chief guests and finally the infamous jersey number, the classic No. 1, MAUMOON!
It is absolutely foolish to believe that President Gayyoom and his cronies can still "stage manage" the FAM elections. Acting on such an assumption will not be in the interest of the candidates.
Confusion!
One, rather sympathetic observer commented that candidates "....please do not take the post cos you want to empower, but take it cos you want to serve for a better future...".
The comment reflects the disengagement we have suffered from the political processes that impact our everyday life. Sport, have not been spared! The word "politics" itself have been conceived as a threat! It throws us out of our "comfort zone". Such is the power of the fear psychosis instilled in us by good old President Gayyoom. How can one serve for a better future without empowering the people who in turn have to work tirelessly to ensure this better future?
Considering the elections are to be held some 4 days after the entry deadline of 16 July, is it too late to urge the candidates to state their plans for the association?
Policy
A general guideline of his policy direction will suffice.
Male'-centric football model: For example, are we going to continue with the Male'-centric football model, akin to the "kuda-sitee" culture which required "islanders" or "rah-fushu meehun" to get a permit to land on the capital island Male'. Though the practice ceased to exist some years back, the incumbent government have deliberately maintained the culture. The voting structure under which the FIFA Interim Committee have opened up these elections is a shining example of the dominence of this disturbing mentality!
Take football to the islands: Would the candidate depart from such anti-development norms? Would he rather take football to the people. Those thousands of fans living out there in the 200 inhabited islands. And, can we make football a celebration that dominate their everyday life? To look forward to that weekend encounter! Will he host elite Male' teams in the zone stadiums of the north and south to build confidence? Will he have the "balls" to depart from this ingrained culture of centralised governance?
Home and away rule: Will he decentralise the atolls into associations who in turn will be empowered to conduct home and away island leagues at the local, atoll level. The European experience have taught us that a key ingredient of their success was the home and away rule.
Local identity: How will the new President empower clubs to once again regain their local identities, the "avashu" or ward club, " rashu" or island clubs, atoll representative clubs? These are basic ingredients, the RIGHTS necessary to get a truly national football network up and running. "Avah" and "rashu" identities have been stifled by Gayyoom's government to serve his own political motives! Will the candidates support procedures on say, how New Radiant can become the official Henveiru club and Victory the official Ghalolhu Club. How will the candidates inspire youth into football culture? How do they plan to make football flourish?
Passion and commerce: How aware are the candidates of the underlying passion with which Maldivians have embraced football and the immense opportunities this opens up for modern commercial initiatives? We ran out of merchandised jerseys, flags and what not last month during the SAFF Cup. Some young football journalists have already raised some or most of these issues in our premier football website maldivesoccer.com.
Are these votes worth the price?
We must be alert to the challenges that lie ahead for the new FA President. Apart from the legitimacy of the elections and his future public standing, the candidate also have the un-envious task of guiding the association away from the claws of a fledgling government that would cling onto anything for political survival. Is Kaleem and Azim up to the challenge? How well are they placed to guide the FAM from the claws of such powerful interest groups?
So, the question! Are the 11 votes up for sale, and if so is the price worth it?
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Who is a credible President for the FAM?
I guess this is the million dollar question! Maldives football is embarking on the treacherous journey of growing up! The process of guiding the FAM out of a culture of total government dominance to an autonomous civil society organisation with international benchmarks of good governence will not be without it's challenges.
The fact that the FIFA had to intervene with a five member interim transitional committee in November 2007 is proof of the serious lack of capacity on the part of government to bring about this transition from "within". The government's rhetoric of reform turned out to be an empty promise.
Kaleem was the government appointed Chairman and Azim was the New Radiant representative on the government appointed executive committee. While Azim was lobbying for his club, Kaleem accepted the grander ideal of positioning Maldives Football as a truly national representative body that would look after the interest of all football clubs, rich and poor alike.
Lost opportunity
I urged both Azim and Kaleem to initiate the transition around mid 2007. By then the FIFA was breathing down the FAM's neck and the government was scurrying to get a makeshift election organised. FIFA cried foul and the government backed off in fear of international suspension. I advised both Kaleem and Azim, that the Sports Ministry had lost it's legal mandate to control the FAM after the one year interim transition period specified in the 2003 Articles of Association expired in May 2004. The time was perfect for Kaleem to seek the support of the elite clubs in the executive committee and declare elections! Mattey and Hiyalee, both directly involved with the affairs of the FAM, preferred to take a back seat. Unfortunately none had the vision nor the resolve to provide the radical leadership necessary to fast track the transition process.
That is behind us now. Kaleem and Azim left their posts and let the FIFA representative Dato' Paul take over!
FIFA Interim Committee manipulates voter eligibility
The good Dato', in broad daylight, appointed five handpicked "individuals" to oversee FAM transition. The Interim Transitional Committee members were weak, lacked vision and leadership. The Committee is now caught attempting to legitimise the election of the FAM by a mere 11 clubs. Our National Team's SAFF success was a blessing in disguise. The fledgling FAM was thrown onto the national political stage when President Gayyoom sent the Cup off on a national tour for his personal campaign. The Interim Committee spinelessly watched on as the SAFF Cup was turned into a Political Football.
The national spotlight hopefully will not only highlight the politicization of the SAFF Cup. This is an opportune time as any to fix our gaze on the transitional process, specifically the ELECTIONS.
So who is the best candidate?
As part answer to this million dollar question, we must focus on the elections. Kaleem and Azim will have to lobby for a minimum of 6 out of the 11 votes to win. What are the candidates offering? MONEY or POLICIES? We would want each candidate to present us with their manifesto, their vision and how they plan to achieve it.
Azim and Kaleem failed to score in the first half. They failed to capitalise on the recent opportunity to provide leadership. The FIFA then intervened, in the guise of Dato' Paul! The outcome was the manupulation of the FA elections in favour of a mere 11 elite clubs out of a ninety strong membership. To our shock and horror, these candidates are now hoping they will win the legal mandate to provide the FAM with future leadership by securing a mere 6 votes! This really takes the cake!
Moral authority
All I know is, this election exclusively dominated by a mere eleven Male' based clubs will not secure either Azim or Kaleem the moral authority to lead Maldives Football. Island clubs out there on our 200 islands are watching what the Interim committee and these two candidates are up to.
The two best "zone" (or island) teams who are competing in the premier Dhivehi League do not have the right to vote in the FAM elections! This league is ongoing as we speak.
Laamu Khalaidhoo and Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo qualified to play by going through an arduous process. Unlike Male' clubs, they have to play three qualifying rounds, atoll, zone and zone champions round. The qualification process takes over three months. Amateur players have to travel to the atoll, zone and Male venues to qualify. In sharp contrast, the elite eleven clubs with voting rights live, work and play in Male'. The financial burden excludes the over sixty (60) island based clubs from maintaining the participation targets favoured by the 28 Male' based clubs who recently ratified the FA Statutes under the watchful eyes of the FIFA Official Dato' Paul in Male' on 16 June.
Time will tell how events will unfold! How can the FAM take root without the support of the majority of its members? FIFA itself assures us, through their 2006 Big Count, that the Maldives can boast 60 active football clubs within it's territory.
I would like to see the candidates declare their position on the question of the excluded majority. I would like to see them state their commitment to right this wrong as an election promise. Should the 11 clubs vote with the candidate who stays silent on the exclusion of the majority, let these 11 clubs beware, the majority are watching you!
The fact that the FIFA had to intervene with a five member interim transitional committee in November 2007 is proof of the serious lack of capacity on the part of government to bring about this transition from "within". The government's rhetoric of reform turned out to be an empty promise.
Kaleem was the government appointed Chairman and Azim was the New Radiant representative on the government appointed executive committee. While Azim was lobbying for his club, Kaleem accepted the grander ideal of positioning Maldives Football as a truly national representative body that would look after the interest of all football clubs, rich and poor alike.
Lost opportunity
I urged both Azim and Kaleem to initiate the transition around mid 2007. By then the FIFA was breathing down the FAM's neck and the government was scurrying to get a makeshift election organised. FIFA cried foul and the government backed off in fear of international suspension. I advised both Kaleem and Azim, that the Sports Ministry had lost it's legal mandate to control the FAM after the one year interim transition period specified in the 2003 Articles of Association expired in May 2004. The time was perfect for Kaleem to seek the support of the elite clubs in the executive committee and declare elections! Mattey and Hiyalee, both directly involved with the affairs of the FAM, preferred to take a back seat. Unfortunately none had the vision nor the resolve to provide the radical leadership necessary to fast track the transition process.
That is behind us now. Kaleem and Azim left their posts and let the FIFA representative Dato' Paul take over!
FIFA Interim Committee manipulates voter eligibility
The good Dato', in broad daylight, appointed five handpicked "individuals" to oversee FAM transition. The Interim Transitional Committee members were weak, lacked vision and leadership. The Committee is now caught attempting to legitimise the election of the FAM by a mere 11 clubs. Our National Team's SAFF success was a blessing in disguise. The fledgling FAM was thrown onto the national political stage when President Gayyoom sent the Cup off on a national tour for his personal campaign. The Interim Committee spinelessly watched on as the SAFF Cup was turned into a Political Football.
The national spotlight hopefully will not only highlight the politicization of the SAFF Cup. This is an opportune time as any to fix our gaze on the transitional process, specifically the ELECTIONS.
So who is the best candidate?
As part answer to this million dollar question, we must focus on the elections. Kaleem and Azim will have to lobby for a minimum of 6 out of the 11 votes to win. What are the candidates offering? MONEY or POLICIES? We would want each candidate to present us with their manifesto, their vision and how they plan to achieve it.
Azim and Kaleem failed to score in the first half. They failed to capitalise on the recent opportunity to provide leadership. The FIFA then intervened, in the guise of Dato' Paul! The outcome was the manupulation of the FA elections in favour of a mere 11 elite clubs out of a ninety strong membership. To our shock and horror, these candidates are now hoping they will win the legal mandate to provide the FAM with future leadership by securing a mere 6 votes! This really takes the cake!
Moral authority
All I know is, this election exclusively dominated by a mere eleven Male' based clubs will not secure either Azim or Kaleem the moral authority to lead Maldives Football. Island clubs out there on our 200 islands are watching what the Interim committee and these two candidates are up to.
The two best "zone" (or island) teams who are competing in the premier Dhivehi League do not have the right to vote in the FAM elections! This league is ongoing as we speak.
Laamu Khalaidhoo and Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo qualified to play by going through an arduous process. Unlike Male' clubs, they have to play three qualifying rounds, atoll, zone and zone champions round. The qualification process takes over three months. Amateur players have to travel to the atoll, zone and Male venues to qualify. In sharp contrast, the elite eleven clubs with voting rights live, work and play in Male'. The financial burden excludes the over sixty (60) island based clubs from maintaining the participation targets favoured by the 28 Male' based clubs who recently ratified the FA Statutes under the watchful eyes of the FIFA Official Dato' Paul in Male' on 16 June.
Time will tell how events will unfold! How can the FAM take root without the support of the majority of its members? FIFA itself assures us, through their 2006 Big Count, that the Maldives can boast 60 active football clubs within it's territory.
I would like to see the candidates declare their position on the question of the excluded majority. I would like to see them state their commitment to right this wrong as an election promise. Should the 11 clubs vote with the candidate who stays silent on the exclusion of the majority, let these 11 clubs beware, the majority are watching you!
Monday, July 7, 2008
FAM elections warms up!
The FIFA Interim Committee have opened the door for interested members to propose candidates for the posts of President and Executive Committee membership.
With just two weeks to go for the entry deadline of 16 July, two factions seem to be emerging to compete for the Presidency. One is headed by New Radiant Chairman Ali Azim and the other a surprising associate of the club, the previously deposed, but widely respected ex. National Captain and Cup winning coach for New Radiant, Mohamed Kaleem.
Behind Azim stands Hiyalee, a rather tarnished but vibrant CEO. Behind Kaleem is the equally famous Mattey. Mattey is said by some to have back paddled from contesting the FAM Presidency, making way for Kaleem to emerge the front runner.
Most of the other first division clubs seem content with a seat on the executive committee.
Both parties contesting the leadership of the FAM are equally backed with the best playing and management experience this country can offer. This definitely is the upside.
There however is the downside. That is the issue of voter eligibility. The FIFA Interim Committee claims that the 5 year uninturrupted participation clause excluding the two third majority of upto 60 football playing island based clubs was a condition specified by the FIFA. This appears strange as the FIFA have claimed in their 2006 Big Count that they could statistically verify sixty (60) associated football clubs in the Maldives.
The FIFA Interim Committee makes the preposterous claim that ONLY Eleven (11) clubs are entitled to vote to elect the President and executive committee of the FAM. The FAM is a over 90 member strong association with upto 80 member clubs participating in FAM organised competitions annually, throught this island nation. Someone, somewhere needs some serious answers ready for the island based majority clubs who are being taken for a free ride in this FAM's historical first election.
We will have to wait and see how this landmark election takes shape!
With just two weeks to go for the entry deadline of 16 July, two factions seem to be emerging to compete for the Presidency. One is headed by New Radiant Chairman Ali Azim and the other a surprising associate of the club, the previously deposed, but widely respected ex. National Captain and Cup winning coach for New Radiant, Mohamed Kaleem.
Behind Azim stands Hiyalee, a rather tarnished but vibrant CEO. Behind Kaleem is the equally famous Mattey. Mattey is said by some to have back paddled from contesting the FAM Presidency, making way for Kaleem to emerge the front runner.
Most of the other first division clubs seem content with a seat on the executive committee.
Both parties contesting the leadership of the FAM are equally backed with the best playing and management experience this country can offer. This definitely is the upside.
There however is the downside. That is the issue of voter eligibility. The FIFA Interim Committee claims that the 5 year uninturrupted participation clause excluding the two third majority of upto 60 football playing island based clubs was a condition specified by the FIFA. This appears strange as the FIFA have claimed in their 2006 Big Count that they could statistically verify sixty (60) associated football clubs in the Maldives.
The FIFA Interim Committee makes the preposterous claim that ONLY Eleven (11) clubs are entitled to vote to elect the President and executive committee of the FAM. The FAM is a over 90 member strong association with upto 80 member clubs participating in FAM organised competitions annually, throught this island nation. Someone, somewhere needs some serious answers ready for the island based majority clubs who are being taken for a free ride in this FAM's historical first election.
We will have to wait and see how this landmark election takes shape!
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