The majority of British people believes that FIFA (the body that organises world football) is corrupt, that the World Cup host contest was unfair, and that head of FIFA Sepp Blatter should step down, our poll has found.
Despite this, only half would call for the contests to decide the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to be re-run.
- An overwhelming 84% of British people believe that FIFA is ‘probably corrupt’
- 9 out of 10 British men consider FIFA to be corrupt
- Three quarters (75%) of Brits consider that, from what they have seen or heard, the contests to decide the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were corrupt
- 65% think that the current head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, who was recently re-elected into the post by a landslide, should step down
- Half of Brits (50%) would like to see a re-run of the contests to decide the hosts of the two World Cup competitions
Suspicions of corruption stem from recent claims of misconduct in both of the contests held to decide the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup competitions as well as the presidential elections. Two members of FIFA, Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam, have been suspended over allegations of bribery and ethical breaches, while Blatter himself was recently acquitted of charges accusing him of knowing about the bribery but doing nothing to stop it.
And although the findings of our poll demonstrate the depth of British distrust in FIFA and its head, Blatter has persistently insisted that the football association is not in crisis.
