The Special Relationship? America and corruption

As news was coming in on Tuesday regarding the extraordinary development at FIFA, there was discussion as to why the FBI and US prosecutors were taking such an interest in FIFA affairs. Here, after all, is a country that doesn't have much football tradition. Yes, it has a reasonable team, it has staged a World Cup and would hope to hold further tournaments, but in terms of the global game, the US is not in its premier league. So why all the interest?

The most revealing explanation was that to do with Obama's agenda to root out corruption - wherever it might be. The world's policeman is the world's anti-corruption prosecutor as well. And to get a flavour of this, one only has to take a look at what was posted onto the White House's website on 24 September last year.

"President Obama and the US Government continue to drive a robust agenda to stem corruption around the world and hold to account those who exploit the public’s trust for private gain. Preventing corruption preserves funds for public revenue and thereby helps drive development and economic growth. By contrast, pervasive corruption siphons revenue away from the public budget and undermines the rule of law and the confidence of citizens in their governments, facilitates human rights abuses and organized crime, empowers authoritarian rulers, and can threaten the stability of entire regions. The United States views corruption as a growing threat to the national security of our country and allies around the world."

This briefing goes on at considerable length in explaining how the US has become a "global leader on anti-corruption efforts". Among its various "actions" include "working with other countries to promote anti-corruption, transparency and open government". Maybe the US had been talking to the Swiss Government and Swiss prosecutors. But while the reports were of FIFA and possibly Blatter being fingered, thoughts turned elsewhere. Spain.

Ángel María Villar Llona is the president of the Spanish Football Federation. He has been since 1988. He is also a vice-president of FIFA. In the recent vote for the FIFA presidency, Spain sided with Blatter. This was hardly surprising. When the spoils for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were announced, Villar Llona rounded on those who were accusing FIFA of corruption (principally the British media) by saying that "FIFA is clean and does things with honesty". He has echoed Blatter's sentiment that FIFA represents a football "family". When he was re-elected as president in 2008, he spoke of the "union between all the families of football". He taunted the English FA with its talk of "allegations", ones which should not be made about families. He was one of those who, when David Bernstein of the FA spoke out against Blatter, turned on Bernstein and the FA.

In 2010, a Spanish judge concluded that Villar Llona and other directors of the Spanish federation should be absolved of accusations that had been made against them, though the judge did say that there had been "abominable management in accounting for trips, expenses and purchase of foreign currency".

Villar Llona was due to have been restored as FIFA's head of referees, reward for backing Blatter in his re-election campaign; this, despite his facing possible sanctions related to the bidding for the 2018 World Cup. Where does Blatter's resignation leave Villar Llona?

But while the Spanish Football Federation may now look a little isolated within UEFA (not totally of course because the French, among others, had also supported Blatter), what about Spain, as in its government?

The US and Spain have generally had a strong relationship. It was the Americans who primarily brought Franco into the twentieth century by having - with the help of the likes of American Express - promoted the tourism which was to explode in the 1960s. The Americans also gave Franco military support. More recently, there were strains in the relationship because of Zapatero's opposition to the Iraq War, though Spain did then support US policy in Afghanistan. Under Rajoy, relations have been more cordial. But what about corruption?

As if the Partido Popular and the Spanish Government needed any more reminder of the issue, at the same time as the PP was getting a kicking in regional elections, there were more arrests in Valencia while a judge, in addition to opening proceedings against former PP officials in respect of the so-called "B accounts" affair, was fixing a civil bond of 1.2 million on the PP.

One looks at the wording from the White House statement of September last year. While some of it would not apply to Spain, some of it does. FIFA's affairs are one thing, but what of those of the Spanish Government? What does Obama make of corruption charges here? And what would the US make of Spain were it to be governed by parties of the left with anti-corruption agendas?