I don’t know how and what your
view on the recent comment of the FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Cristiano
Ronaldo the Madrid striker is, when the former was asked in a gathering of the
Oxford Union Society students to compare the latter and Lionel Messi – two of
the 23 players shortlisted for the Ballon D’or slated for 13 January, 2014 in
Zurich.
The comment of the FIFA boss has
raised eye brows with regards to the transparency nature of the awards which
has seen Lionel Messi - the darling of the FIFA establishment winning four of
that award in sequence in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The former Manchester
United forward has placed second from 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2012 in the same
award. Is the organization of the award
fair and transparent? Is FIFA benefiting from favoring some players in the
world and for what reason? Will “Sepp Blatter’s establishment” give the coming
award to Messi based on his comment? These are few out of the many questions
that beg asking.
However, one needs not be a
rocket scientist to smell some bad odor coming out of the FIFA establishment as
far as the comment of the FIFA boss on Friday 25 October, 2013 is concerned. I
don’t know what books Sepp Blatter reads but he’s 100% shot of a good leader.
One of the tenets of good leadership is leading by example. Our speeches and
actions must all be reflective of our leadership status. The Latin saying, “Cum
datum datum”, means that, “to whom much is given, much is expected” is applicable
in the case of Sepp Blatter. Sepp Blatter has been given the helm of affairs of
the world football association so diagogically, we expected nothing short of
leadership mixed with professionalism and good faith from him.
To compare Cristiano Ronaldo to
the status of a Military Commander and think this was meant to be
‘“amusing”
aside’ is one of the cheapest behaviors of a leader like Sepp Blatter. By such
behavior Sepp Blatter is giving voice to the current leadership theory gaining
root in the discipline which postulates that, “age has nothing to do with
leadership and maturity”. Sepp Blatter is old and may be everything but mature.
Cristiano Ronaldo on the other
hand exhibited maturity unparalleled of some modern players. On his Facebook
page the former Manchester United forward had this to say of Sepp Blatter’s
video;
“This video shows clearly the respect and consideration that FIFA has
for me, for my club and my country. Much is explained now. I wish Mr. Blatter
health and a long life, with the certainties that he will continue to witness,
as he deserves, the successes of his favorite teams and players”.
The FIFA boss’s comment may be
infuriating but the comment of Cristiano Ronaldo puts to rest the immaturity on
the part of Sepp Blatter. His apology which came after the letter of the President
of Real Madrid demanding an apology is replete with haughtiness and
remorseless.
“It was never my intention to embarrass or
disrespect to Real Madrid, or one of their players or their fans”, wrote Sepp
Blatter in his letter of apology. Had Sepp Blatter behaved decently and
exhibited a good leadership pattern we wouldn’t have gotten to the level where
he would expressed, “sorry that this situation produced in a university event
hurt as much and I apologize for it”.
I suggest Madrid fans and the world
forgive this man and hope he goes and “sin no more”.
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