Sepp Blatter – President of FIFA
Sepp Blatter has been president of FIFA since 1998, and increasingly shows traits that regular readers will recognise in long serving leaders. FIFA might seem like an inappropriate entry in the World Leaders in Their Underpants canon, but like Comoros, it is a federation, and it does have a president. Furthermore, many people are now calling for regime change. It may be that it is only recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan that prevent an international coalition from taking action to remove President Blatter.
A chief factor in my initial reluctance to include Blatter was the desire to one day complete the compendium. Throwing the doors open to every international organisation with a president puts the end of my endeavours far beyond any imaginable date. But FIFA is no ordinary organisation and it is possible to argue for its status as a geo-political entity. It may not be a sovereign state, as such, but once every four years it occupies another country for a few weeks, taking control of their media outlets and broadcasting their coup to the world. In fact, other countries seem to be falling over each other to be thus occupied. According to some scurrilous rumours, there are even instances of bribery.
The fluidity of FIFA’s territory makes it the perfect state for the digital era where the analogue boundaries of the old world make less sense by the day. Small wonder Blatter clings so tightly to his presidency. With this in mind, close scrutiny of President Blatter and his governing body seems entirely appropriate. If it all kicks off who will grant him asylum? Perhaps the World Society of Friends of Suspenders, of which he was president in the early 70s.
So, as with Alex Salmond, another exception has been made and my list grows longer. Sepp Blatter joins the old world heads of state here.
