Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, FIFA President

During the recent FIFA presidential election I was reminded of Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy where he unravels the way by which Karla has placed a mole at the heart of Britain's secret intelligence service.

Others have described the plot better than I can but what Smiley calls the 'last clever knot' that is turning the Circus inside out is where the brilliance of the story lies. British Intelligence seems convinced that it is getting valuable intelligence from a Russian with nothing of any significance going in the other direction. Cleverly, the seemingly helpful Russian based in London is in fact enabling Karla's contact with his mole who is giving secrets ('the crown jewels').

Back to football. With so many associations voting for Sepp Blatter in the FIFA presidential election I wondered what kind of 'clever knot' might be at work here that is turning FIFA inside out. FIFA investment in grassroots football in developing countries and World Cups in Japan/South Korea and South Africa have made Blatter a popular figure outside Europe and I can see that these countries might feel some loyalty even though these things would surely have happened anyway. But what are we missing? Is the relationship as simple as that? Using the template of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the apparent fortune to non-European football associations been a smokescreen for something else?  I feel there is more to this 'knotty' problem than meets the eye.




Recommended reading:
John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974)