Scandal at FIFA: Thank You United States

American justice has been at the forefront of fighting corruption in the world.

Why is the United States again striking out at Switzerland and at the Swiss figure who is up among the most powerful in the world? This question has nagged more than a few people over the last few days, particularly since the forced resignation of Sepp Blatter as head of FIFA.

We must remember that the United States, to a much greater degree than Europe, has actively been fighting corruption for many years and that this fight has yielded results. That doesn’t mean to say that the practice of accepting or offering bribes is unheard of in the United States. To stay within the sporting field, we know that the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 were riddled with scandal linked to bribery. And the Americans themselves do not have a completely clean record. Here is Chuck Blazer, for example, a member of FIFA who now admits to having received millions of dollars to buy himself a luxury flat on the American West Coast.

Nevertheless, the American nation has a long history of fighting against corruption in its own country, and also abroad. The first world power doesn’t want to allow its activities or those of its businesses or nation to be handicapped by the corruption of others.

The United States has been the driving force behind the United Nations adopting an international convention against corruption. After much procrastination, this protocol was approved in a 2003 vote, but six further years were needed for states to ratify it so that it could come into force. Switzerland, for example, only did this in 2009.

It is under the impetus of the Americans that the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials came into force in 1999, after five years of work. It put an end, in theory, to the payment of bribes to get contracts abroad. Formerly, this form of corruption was supported abroad by the states, including Switzerland. The sums paid were tax deductible.

It is still the United States which has been pioneering the fight against corruption in its own activities in the field of international cooperation. Notably, the U.S. has introduced clauses to guarantee transparency and to determine where responsibility lies. Similarly, it has introduced programs to return assets from corruption by the elite to injured states.

So, why is the United States striking out at FIFA and Sepp Blatter? This historic and constant intolerance of corruption is one of the explanations. There may also be others.