Interview by Eric Beard, writing from Barcelona. Illustration by Jon Horner.
I often assume the role of a romantic or even an idealist when writing about football. When Grant Wahl announced his intention to oppose Sepp Blatter, it was genuinely invigorating. What would FIFA be like under, more or less, a man of the people? For football fans everywhere it is an intoxicating image. Millions like myself already get enough enjoyment out of taking reign of teams in FIFA 11 or Football Manager, but actually being El Presidente at the governing body of the beautiful game? For many passionate supporters that’s an equivalent to being the god of football. EA Sports, make it happen.
Despite my initial indulgence in the notion that someone with values like myself rather than like those of Gordon Gecko could be in power, reality came and brought me down to my feet. Idealism aside, with the current set up of FIFA elections, displacing Sepp Blatter or even Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam will be so difficult even Arsene Wenger has the word ‘impossible’ on the tip of his tongue. With that in mind, a few logistical and even moral issues arose. Although I became quite a skeptic of Grant’s motivations behind his movement, thankfully he took time out of his busy schedule to answer everything I had on my mind, from the basic to the blunt…
Blunt questions for Grant Wahl: speaking with the man hoping to take down Sepp Blatter and clean up FIFA
