To the point: Winter World Cup - Blattern go around

The latest evidence: Blatter awards the World Cup to Qatar, which submitted by far the worst bid of all participants. Because it is much too hot for soccer in Qatar in the summer, Blatter moves the World Cup to the winter without further ado. And finally, despite all these wrong decisions, he wants to be re-elected as Fifa president.

Notwithstanding: Blatter has high entertainment value. A man who, free of self-doubt, makes the world as he pleases, who disregards all rules of decency when "güeti Fründe" are rustling with bills in the background, must first be watched in disbelieving amazement as he works. But when is it enough? Blatter has been Fifa president for 17 years, and his middle name is corruption. Next to Putin and Berlusconi, whom he likes to embrace, Blatter easily passes. People talk about it openly, laugh about it, rant about it. And now Blatter wants to get at it again. Isn't this getting embarrassing? Not only for Fifa, which is after all the world's football association. For Switzerland, too.

Moving the World Cup into winter naturally opens up new gateway opportunities for marketing and merchandising: think of a World Cup Christmas market, the referee in a Christkindl costume or, for the little ones, complete soccer equipment for Christmas. But it poses serious scheduling problems for the clubs and especially for ARD and ZDF, which are broadcasting the World Cup. After all, in a world that has not succumbed to madness, winter sports events are broadcast during this period.

Nevertheless, we can't get beyond an indignant, astonished "That's not possible! The fact remains that only the emperor can dethrone the emperor. And if it suits Blatter, the ball is square and a game lasts 79.2 minutes. Wikipedia knows about the Valaisan: "In his education, he was a fighter, skipping the second grade of primary school. A model student, he got only very good grades in all subjects except discipline and singing." That explains a lot, but not everything.

Can it really be that the media, the fourth power in the state, namely ARD and ZDF, can do nothing about these blatters? If the two broadcasters had not long ago bought the broadcasting rights for 2022 for what is probably a shameful sum, they could now do a lot for their acceptance and credibility. They could cancel the broadcast of the World Cup with a joint shoulder instead of bending over backwards. But chasing an egg-laying cash cow out of the barn that you've already fed? The president of the German Football League, Reinhard Rauball, had more courage. He at least considered withdrawing the European Football Union UEFA from FIFA. Nothing happened. But what would actually happen if the next World Cup were simply cancelled?

Camera panning: We say goodbye to Andreas Panzeri, who shaped Werbewoche for 15 years with commitment and apt ideas. Anyone else would be talking about retirement, but Andreas is of course moving on: as a freelancer with his own film production, a return to his roots as a filmmaker. We wish him strength and endurance, success and fun, and look forward to meeting him again soon as "Head of the Week" in Werbewoche. Many thanks and all the best.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich, Editor-in-Chief
f.heinrich@werbewoche.ch