Ex-Three Lions star Stan Collymore believes that withdrawing from the governing body's jurisdiction is the only way to force much-needed change amid the controversies surrounding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Before they consider returning, the world's leading football nations must leave FIFA en masse after the World Cup and demand wholesale changes within the global game's governing body.
That's the opinion of Stan Collymore, who believes that drastic measures are required in light of the problems that have arisen in the last week and, indeed, in the 12 years since Qatar was awarded the tournament."Once the tournament is over, we really need to think about short-circuiting FIFA and the corruption and the juggernaut that it is," the former Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and England star turned Mirror Sport columnist said. When you see corruption within a government, you have the opportunity to vote them out every four years.
"So, how did we get to the point where Gianni Infantino has just been accepted as president for another four years with no challenger?" Presidents should be limited to a four-year term, and the voting process for the role and who gets to host World Cups should be completely transparent."When the World Cup is over, I'd love to hear England, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain, and Italy say, 'Right, that's it, we're boycotting FIFA until it gets its act together and introduces a proper, ethical standards charter that it adheres to when awarding World Cups.'""Because, no matter how much FIFA claims to administer the game, they only do so with the cooperation of the elite nations, and, let's face it, a World Cup without at least five or six of those teams just wouldn't have the same appeal."
"If we had a charter that stated non-negotiable points like, 'We believe people should be able to hold hands in the street or in stadiums if they are gay or straight without fear of recourse,' and 'We believe alcohol should be allowed to be consumed responsibly and in certain areas of the stadiums we are operating,' then everyone, including supporters and bidding countries, would know where they stand from the start.""Everyone's religion, morals, and values can still be respected, but this way, we can at least get back to the football and less about geopolitics and sports-washing."
"What we've seen in the last week is that FIFA's ethics, morals, and values have been thrown out the window because they sold the tournament to a country that doesn't share the same ethics, morals, and values as most of the World Cup nations.""And this is because FIFA put the cart before the horse, rather than the other way around." However, by boycotting FIFA and instead playing high-profile friendlies against each other while wearing whatever armbands they want, the big nations can create enough of a stir to bring about some much-needed change."
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