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Date: 27th December 2025
FOOTBALL – THE INDUSTRY WITH A FREE PASS TO DO WHAT IT LIKES
We all know that football supporters are the most unique of customers. So distinct in fact that fans of the game hate being called customers. We all recognise that the contribution is so much more than seeing a match. Fans of football across the world are the most loyal of any group aside of those beholden to a cult or a deep religious ideology. Not only do they pay at the gate, buy tv subscriptions and bedeck themselves from head to toe in football brand merchandise, they also spend an inordinate amount of time being a promoter of the football brand that they love. Now its videos, podcasts as well as blogs and social media channels all helping to build brand awareness all free of charge to the club owners. There simply is no business like the football business anywhere on this planet.
The positives that come from the love and adoration of teams and clubs fans follow we all know and appreciate. What other industry can call on its contributors to pay and promote the brand and signing up for a lifetime of commitment through the good times and the bad?
These past few days across the globe we have seen World Cup excitement significantly reduced due to an obscene draw ceremony and the subsequent fall out due to a pricing and ticket allocation policy. There has been universal uproar. The question is how did we get there to a position where those most loyal and committed supporters of the game are not just ignored but are treated with complete distain.
What this crisis has allowed us to do it to see football in a different light and just like the European Super league fiasco a few years back there is universal support for supporters from all quarters to hold FIFA to account.
The challenge in trying to do so is that football has left its humble origins far behind and in the past decade the takeover of the industry has seen the game metamorphous into an unrecognisable beast. With sports washing states, billionaires and multi club ownership groups feeding at the UEFA and FIFA trough, we have to ask how has this been allowed to happen?
The reality is easy to see by looking very close to home. Here is Scotland the game is run by the SFA who have a board populated by clubs with their own self-interest. There is no opportunity to have any input from players, coaches/ managers and of course those who fund the game- the supporters. No access to any part of the game apart from us writing to the leaders of the SFA / SPFL and directing our frustrations via any interested parties at Holyrood or if the issue is big enough maybe by calling on the media to support us. Football as country level operates behind closed doors and we are always told is a members organisation, which is code for saying go away as only we can change things. However, if we look at a simple topic in Scotland such as league reconstruction, where over the past decade fans, players and coaches have all argued for larger leagues and not playing each other four times in a season. Many clubs have also advocates this change but they can never get enough support due to inertia and a voting structure that unless you have Celtic and Rangers with you nothing ever happens.
The issues with the SFA and other national associations are that there is no oversight to its governance, no transparency to how it operates and they are accountable to no one but themselves. If we move into Europe ,UEFA have the same structure in that the clubs and association decide everything behind closed doors with players, coaches and the supporters all sitting outside asking for transparency and some form of input to our game. We used to think it was our game, didn’t we?
As we can see there is a recurring theme here in football and with FIFA despite its chequered history of personal financial scandals, human rights abuses and selling tournaments to the highest bidder with the lowest standards, it is no different. The nearest we come to having any influence is to rely on our local association ( the SFA) to exert influence on FIFA.Is it likely is it even possible given that accountability, transparency and openness don’t exist in their day to day operation at a local level?
So where does the current FIFA PR disaster leave us? Well, with the support of the media who are equally aghast at what is happening , we can continue to shout a bit louder and may yet get some further concessions. However, the sad reality is that football here at home, in Europe and on the world stage has been allowed by a quirk of fate to have no external oversight and that means that it is probably the only industry on the planet to do what it likes and get away with it.
All we can do as ordinary fans is to join our respective national fans organisations and keep asking difficult questions of your local Football Association and engage with the politicians who see how flawed the whole industry is.
Paul Goodwin is co Founder of the Scottish Football Supporters Association www.scottishfsa.org and author of Our Game Our Clubs ( Luath Press) which look as governance of the game.
Posted in: Fan's Blog, Latest News
Tags: Fan Led Review, fans, FIFA, Scottish football, World Cup