1. Running head: AFTER BLATTER: CREATING A POSITIVE IMAGE FOR FIFA 1
After Blatter: Creating a Positive Image for FIFA
Lily Emma Lee Withrow, Jamie East, and Andrew Bergen
University of Miami

2. AFTER BLATTER: CREATING A POSITIVE IMAGE FOR FIFA 2
After Blatter: Creating a Positive Image for FIFA
Overview and Plan
Problem and Goals
This campaign is going to focus on the scandal surrounding the FIFA Administration of
Sepp Blatter. The investigation of his reign in power has uncovered almost 20 years of unethical
and criminal actions that have contributed to an extremely negative image for FIFA (BBC,
2015). According to Rawlinson (2015), Sepp Blatter created and nurtured a culture of corruption
that allowed and encouraged bribery, selling votes, and misuse of executive powers. Along with
this corrupt culture, the Sepp Blatter regime also “created an environment of dishonesty, racism,
and inequality” (Rutherford, Collett, and Palmer, 2014). According to the BBC, Blatter was
“found guilty of breaches surrounding a ($2 million) disloyal payment made to Platini in 2011.”
In addition, Swiss authorities “opened criminal proceedings against Blatter [for] criminal
mismanagement and misappropriation (ESPN Staff, 2015). The public investigation of Blatter
brought the problematic FIFA environment to the world’s attention. Blatter is directly connected
to the corruption within FIFA and he has fostered an environment of inequality and dishonesty,
which has resulted in a highly negative image and a decrease in the production of grass root
athletes therefore resulting in a lower income for FIFA and member federations.
Due to the negative image of FIFA and its impact on the sport of soccer the main goal of
this campaign is to improve FIFA’s image throughout the world. The desired outcomes of the
campaign are as follows:
1. Behavioral:
a. Increase of participation of athletes at local and national grassroots programs
within the FIFA member federations.
b. Increase membership of new federations in FIFA.
c. Increase attendance at World Cup & FIFA member federations’ events.

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d. Increase demand of FIFA member federations’ merchandise.
2. Attitude: People have a high level of trust, confidence, and respect for FIFA, member
federations, and local soccer organizations.
a. Increase of positive remarks by the public and stakeholders of FIFA
b. Increase of positive stories in the media.
3. Cognition: The clear understanding of ethical rules, rules of the game, and
transparency of the organization at higher levels.
a. Increase the accessibility to financial records and bidding processes to the
public
b. Increase education of officials, players, parents and public to the rules of the
game set up by FIFA.
4. Retention: Maintain athletes as they mature from grassroots programs to various roles
within the organizations such as coaching, semi to pro athletes, and enrolling children
into grassroots programs.
5. Exposure:
a. To increase positive media exposure at all levels: local, national, and
international.
b. Expose interested publics to new changes; explain the changes and the need
for those changes.
Key Publics
FIFA is known worldwide as the premier governing body and ambassador of the sport of
soccer internationally. “FIFA’s primary objective is "to improve the game of football constantly
and promote it globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values,
particularly through youth and development programs".” (FIFA, 2016) In addition, “FIFA’s goal

4. AFTER BLATTER: CREATING A POSITIVE IMAGE FOR FIFA 4
is to touch, unite and inspire the world through its competitions and events.”(FIFA, 2016) Recent
events have brought to light major corruption issues and various scandals in the organization.
FIFA is to the of world soccer, what the IOC is to the Olympics and their missions share similar
aspects. FIFA like that of the IOC has many publics that they look to maintain relationships with
both inside and outside of the organization.
FIFA itself is made up of 209 member associations, which it recognizes and develops.
These member associations are one group of publics, which could be regarded as internal but
highly affected by FIFA actions. These member associations receive funding from FIFA on a
case-by-case basis to organize youth and other soccer programs in their respective locations. In
many of these countries, the programs are grassroots program to help develop the sport and
spread FIFA’s mission goals. “Many of our members depend on this support to finance their day-
to-day operations. It ensures that football can have a solid foundation throughout the world.”
(FIFA, 2016) These programs are fundamental to FIFA because they maintain the growth of the
sport and the youth in these programs are the future of the sport, making them a key public that
will continue the sports advancement in many ways. Two external key publics that FIFA should
regard at the highest level are fans of FIFA soccer around the world and the corporate sponsors
of FIFA, including its largest event The World Cup. These two groups can hinder FIFA greatly
and its actions largely affect both of these groups. The two relationships also connect with one
another as fans opinions of the organization could sway the opinions of corporate sponsorships.
These three key publics are the most important groups to FIFA for a few reasons. If fans
believe FIFA is corrupt and the organization’s reputation is damaged, they will lose faith in the
organizations ability to govern the sport correctly. This would result in worldwide questioning of
all FIFA member associations and the integrity of the sport in general. Also, the tournament,
which FIFA relies so heavily on for revenues and their economic security, would likely develop
issues. FIFA’s ability to promote the sport and assist member association would begin to falter.

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The youth in grassroots programs would no longer have the opportunities without proper funding
and the future of FIFA would be diminished. The result of all this and the public opinion would
cause corporate sponsors to question the organization’s intentions and continuation of their
sponsorships. This would pull additional funding from FIFA that it depends on for The World
Cup and its on-going events or programs. FIFA’s corporate sponsors depend on them to
organize events that they would be confident sponsoring and the fact that the organization cannot
govern itself properly does not create appeal. Negative actions by FIFA executives or the
organization as a whole could be a public relations nightmare and this has come to fruition for
the organization as of late. As they make steps to rebuild, their key publics have to be addressed
and shown that the organization is on the right path for the future.
ResearchStrategy
 Initial Investigation: This is a critical first step in crisis management. Before formal
research can begin regarding the publics and the reforms needed to bring credibility back
to FIFA, an investigation into the scandal needs to happen. This will uncover the ugly
details surrounding the Blatter Scandal and give us a better understanding of what actually
happened. This is important as we identify reforming methods that demonstrate our ability,
willingness, and integrity as an organization to get all the bad news out prior to launching
a ‘brand recovery campaign’.
 Formative Research: Our main focus should be on understanding what our key publics
know, believe, value, etc. before we communicate our campaign message. This is
particularly important, as we should only be focusing on publics that actually have an
interest in FIFA. By identifying those publics, we can then tailor our communications
unique to the intended recipient – soccer (fútbol) fans. The goal is to bring credibility back
to the organization and to build relationships with publics who actually have an interest in
our message.

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 Quantitative Research: This strategy is beneficial in learning the demographics of our key
publics and where they are getting their information from (e.g. internet sources, social
media, etc.). Internet-based surveys, online reviews, blogs, etc. are some examples of
resources that we may be able to use to compile this data.
 Qualitative Research: Once the quantitative information is compiled, we can then hone in
on the feelings, opinions and emotions of our key publics. We especially want to know
their beliefs and opinions so we can structure our communications appropriately.
 Evaluation: Once the research has been completed and all of the information has been
compiled, evaluation of the data is critical in order to develop an effective action plan. It
is critical that we build-in evaluation and accountability and that we measure our key
public’s actions against our goals as set forth in our action plan. With respect to those
goals, it will be important throughout our campaign to continually evaluate, analyze and
revise our goals, outcomes and strategies as needed.
Evaluation Method
Evaluation of the efficacy of the crisis communication plan is vital to ensure the success to
improving FIFA’s image after the corruption scandal of the administration of Sepp Blatter. The
best method of evaluating the success of the plan is through systematic evaluation. Systematic
evaluation allows for impartial evaluation of the success of the plan (Stoldt, Dittmore, and
Branvold, 2012). In addition to this, a systematic evaluation allows for the evaluation of
execution, media coverage and impact of the plan (Stoldt, Dittmore, and Branvold). This method
of evaluation also allows for the measurement of the “audience effects communicators want to
achieve” in behavior, attitude, cognition, retention and exposure (Stoldt, Dittmore, and
Branvold).
The largest indicator of success of the campaign will be the evaluation of impact. This
evaluation relies heavily on the change of people’s behaviors. According to Stoldt, Dittmore, and

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Branvold (2012), this is the hardest aspect to influence and measure. However, this campaign
will use the correlational study of a Structural Equation Model to show behavior change,
especially in the growth of grassroots football programs. The Structural Equation Model allows
evaluators to show the relationship of observable behaviors have on latent information (Adames,
2013). An example is the measurement of the increase of participants in grassroots programs.
The outcome is the growth of the grassroots programs and the path analysis of this might be
Home Activities feed into Social and Parental Influence which lead to a person to play soccer.
The factor analysis would be that the person watches television, active on twitter or other social
media then those activities lead to talking to friends, friends play football, parents played or
coach football, mentor or teacher played or coaches football which feeds into financial means
and amount of available soccer programs that result in the person playing soccer. Then with a
data analysis an evaluator can measure the behavioral outcome is related to the campaign and
that it was successful on this measure.
The evaluation of execution and media coverage are easier to measure through data
analysis and survey’s. The evaluation of execution ideally should be conducted throughout the
crisis communication campaign to ensure that FIFA is communicating constantly to the needed
agencies and publics concerning the crisis and the solution. Additionally, this evaluation is just a
collecting data of the amount of public announcements released and received by the media and
individuals (Stoldt, Dittmore, Branvold, 2012). This evaluation also helps the data analysis
conducted during the evaluation of media coverage that will assess not only the amount of
publicity but also the content and value of the media content to see if the campaign is achieving
desired effects of the key publics.
Perception and Behavior Change Through Media
Message
As FIFA enters its rebuilding phase, following the major scandals and shake-up of its

8. AFTER BLATTER: CREATING A POSITIVE IMAGE FOR FIFA 8
organization regaining the trust of its publics and conveying that that the organization is on the
right path for the future is key. This includes rebuilding from top to bottom, at all levels to create
a better overall perception of the organizations abilities to do what it was intended to do. The
following statement would be shared via social media to rebuild FIFA’s image:
“At FIFA our goal is to develop and improve the beautiful game in all aspects,
including governing the sport, controlling financials at every level, fighting corruption,
and making football available to all. Through this mission, we look to grow the sport of
football, with the goal of improving lives around the world with our grassroots efforts.
Through football we can create a better and brighter future.”
This message will be effective in reaching and being accepted by key publics around the
world based on a few factors. It presents and reiterates the mission of FIFA and what the efforts
of the organization are meant to do. It also mentions the areas from which the scandals that
rocked the organization stemmed from and shows that these areas are still top priorities for the
organization to maintain control of and properly regulate. Most importantly, it demonstrates that
FIFA at its core is on a mission to grow the sport everywhere and at every level beyond just
promoting it at the professional level. This commitment proves that the sport itself is what is
important to FIFA and giving the opportunity to all people globally to be involved in the sport at
whatever level they choose is the goal.
Twitter would be a highly viable social media platform for this message. It would allow
the message to spread to all outlets and the public simultaneously. Media outlets worldwide
would re-tweet it and comment on it. Likely the media would draw various conclusions about the
message, some naturally positive and some negative would be expected, but the message would
be out there. It would also reach publics directly that follow FIFA via twitter, reassuring them
that the organization stands strong and will move forward in their mission. The message would
go from Twitter to other platforms and be shared all over, maximizing the audience it reaches

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and allowing the message to reach its full potential. The concept of Selective Exposure, which
“is the notion that people are most likely to pay attention to messages that relate to subject matter
of existing interest”(Stoldt, Dittmore and Branvold, 2012) is the strategy that the message would
be focused towards. Whether the message is being looked at by a fan, media outlet, or any other
public, they hold some form of interest in the story or FIFA as an organization, which would
prompt them to read and take the message in. Over time, the actions of FIFA, as an organization,
will prove to their publics that they can continue their efforts and regain the trust to govern and
develop the sport with integrity.
Message Efficacy
FIFA’s primary objective “to improve the game of fútbol constantly and promote it
globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values, particularly
through youth and development programmes” (FIFA, 2016). FIFA’s mission statement is great
place to start when considering media outlets, as it is widely known that the media is often a driving
force behind public perception of any sport. However, three key media outlets that come to mind
when thinking about what is driving public perception of FIFA are: social media, website blogs,
and broadcast media.
Starting with social media, it is clear that opinions can be swayed easily in this media
source; however, generally there are mixed views on any subject matter and the result could be
positive, negative, or a combination of the two. As it relates to FIFA, currently the overwhelming
perception is that FIFA officials have been using the organization’s influence to fatten their
pockets. Now, in order to turn around this negative perception, FIFA should use Twitter,
Instagram and Facebook to give key publics a behind-the-scene look into the excitement
surrounding the FIFA World Cup. For example, an influential twitter trend such as “#JoinIn
#WorldCup,” can have a positive impact on the way the public perceives both FIFA and FIFA
World Cup (Sports Techie, 2014). This strategy is used to introduce soccer, and the FIFA World

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Cup in particular, to new publics that are likely to follow FIFA and the FIFA World Cup for the
first time ever leading up to the big tournament – at present, the 2018 FIFA World Cup (Sports
Techie).
Next, we move into the media space of website blogs, which is sometimes a forgotten
contributor to influencing public opinion. FIFA bloggers are generally soccer fans that use an
online platform to promote positive messages about FIFA and can be a strong influencer if fed the
right content. Reaching out to bloggers is a great way to get key influencers in the online media
space to promote FIFA in a positive light, and they do it for free (Dean, 2014). The idea behind
this strategy is that by placing FIFA’s positive content with key media outlets, such as bloggers,
FIFA thereby maximizes their message – a message that gets noticed across multiple platforms at
one time, reaching more and more people, simultaneously with traditional social media posts
(Dean).
Last but not least, broadcast media is also a key contributor as broadcasters provide a ‘giant
lens’ to the world, making this a global reach. As an added benefit, the manner in which the
content is reported seems to have a pretty big effect as well. Some would say that the reason for
viewership reaching such high numbers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals was because it was
relatively well reported in the days leading up to the tournament (FIFA, 2015). Moreover, as it
relates to the global marketplace, the FIFA World Cup is a critical element of the FIFA brand,
thereby insuring that FIFA will ultimately optimize its financial returns from media rights as well
as commercial backing (Vazquez, 2013). Simply put, the FIFA World Cup sponsors and
broadcasting platforms are FIFA’s ‘bread and butter’. That being said, it makes perfect sense for
FIFA to protect the promotional interests of its sponsors – and in the context of the FIFA World
Cup, the display of logos and associated advertising as well. In this regard, Vazquez has argued
that the FIFA World Cup is in and of itself a global ‘brand’ that serves as a major revenue earner
and produces huge profits for FIFA.

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One final note, the capacity of the media to broadcast and present experiences to the public
from a range of spaces before, during, and after major events such as the FIFA World Cup is
rapidly growing. Therefore, it is extremely important to redirect public perception of FIFA – a
unique and successful campaign surrounding the FIFA World Cup media relations and the strategic
engagement of social media is key in this process.
Crisis Campaign
Communications Strategies
The determination of the proper crisis communication strategy is vital to rebuilding
FIFA’s image and recovering from the corruption scandal of Sepp Blatter’s reign as President of
the organization. Although this campaign will need to reintroduce FIFA’s mission of unifying
the world and improving communities and individuals through the fair game of football (FIFA,
2016), it will also need to focus on the scandal and how the organization will move forward.
According to Coombs (2006), it is very important to identify the proper crisis-response strategy
based on the crisis type and previous history of the organization. Based on these requirements
there are several communication strategies that are useful for the rebuilding of FIFA’s image
with various publics.
The particular scandal that this campaign addresses is the corruption created by the Sepp
Blatter Administration. The typology of this scandal is internal and an intentional crisis caused
by the transgressions of Sepp Blatter. Although “FIFA [strives to] protect the integrity of football
and is fighting corruption” (FIFA, 2016), the administration of Sepp Blatter tainted the image by
allowing corruption to seep into the organization. Therefore, it is very important that this
campaign use the crisis communication strategy of mortification. This strategy allows the
organization “to build positives by addressing the crisis in some manner [and allows FIFA to]
accept its responsibility to some degree and take measures to atone for the crisis” (Coombs,
1995). The mortification strategy is a part of the rebuilding posture that allows an organization

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with “a weak crisis history and poor reputation” to rebuild their image when a severe crisis
occurs (Stoldt, Dittmore, and Branvold, 2012).
The next step in the rebuilding process is to use the rectification strategy, to communicate
to the various publics and stakeholders what measures the organization is taking to prevent a
similar incident from occurring (Coombs, 1995). This helps bolster the image of FIFA. This
strategy will also help communicate that the higher levels of competition are free from
corruption and that the standards of fair play are up held at all levels. When this is understood
more people will be attracted to watch events FIFA hosts, people will attend more events, more
athletes will remain part of the organization in various positions and participation in grassroots
programs will increase.
The last step in the process of rebuilding FIFA’s image is combining the other strategies
with two strategies from the bolstering posture. Although FIFA has a recent history of negative
publicity surrounding various actions such as “bribing” and “game fixing” (Davis, 2013), it also
has a history of promoting fairness in sports and fighting corruption (FIFA, 2016). Coombs
(1995) suggests that an organization with a “positive performance history” can successfully
utilize “ingratiation strategies” such as reminding stakeholders of positive accomplishments and
thanking stakeholders for support.
Bolstering Strategies
The most important and difficult portion of the crisis communications strategy is dealing
with the media. According to Stoldt, Dittmore, and Branvold (2012), it is essential to the success
of the crisis communication strategies that the “public relations professionals…establish
themselves and their organizations as credible sources of information.” If an organization is the
primary source of information for the media then it is more probable the desired message and
image are communicated to key publics. This crisis communications plan will utilize several
media sources.

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First, social media such as Twitter and Facebook are wonderful ways to get the desired
message and image out quickly. In addition to this post have the chance to go viral and reach
millions of people. Second, it will be important to develop a media center where all members of
the media can come for press conferences, interviews, and news releases and allow members of
the mass media to work at the center as a convenience (Stoldt, Dittmore, and Branvold, 2012).
This center allows a large organization, such as FIFA, to reach out to a broader number of media
organizations both international and local. In addition to establishing a media center, there needs
to be an initial contact to various members of the mass media all over the world. In order to reach
this large network of media a communications network needs to be established to contact each
confederation of FIFA. Then the confederations contact each country’s governing body in its
membership to contact media liaisons in their country and invite them to the media center. This
will ensure that not only US media sources such as ESPN and the major networks and presses
are connected to the organization’s communication channel. Utilizing both social media such as
tweets and posts along with press conferences and press releases will help spread a consistent
message of change and promote the past good works of FIFA to the masses to disintegrate the
negative image created by the recent scandal.
Conclusion
Evaluation Plan / Communication of Results
Crisis management is probably the most difficult aspect of public relations – and
unfortunately cannot be completely planned. In reality, no matter how much planning is done to
prepare for reacting and responding to a crisis event, every situation is different and poses its
own unique set of obstacles. However, proactive approach is generally a positive step in the
right direction, positioning the organization to begin the recovery process.
After the Blatter crisis runs its course, it certainly will not be over. FIFA must go back,
re-visit how the crisis was initially addressed, and determine if anything could have been done to

14. AFTER BLATTER: CREATING A POSITIVE IMAGE FOR FIFA 14
communicate better with their key publics. Additionally, FIFA will then need to take the lessons
learned and incorporate them into the overall crisis communication strategy. This is a critical
component of the evaluation process (post-crisis) as FIFA should have the tools to prevent the
same error from being made in a similar crisis situation in the future. In this case, one of the
biggest lessons to be learned is making sure the right people, with the right experience, are in the
right place. FIFA must take a long, hard look at their organization, with the intention of making
their brand credible again. After all, reputation is arguably FIFA’s most important asset and
therefore it must be protected at all times.
Post-crisis communication provides FIFA with the opportunity to get out key messages to
the media, who are closely watching the organization’s every move (Heath, 2007). Although
post-crisis communication is critical to an organization’s recovery, it is also important to note
that the dialog between an organization and its public(s) prior to, during, and after the crisis is
paramount (Fearn-Banks, 2011).
Moreover, FIFA’s evaluation of their crisis response strategy is yet another key
component post-crisis. Basically, in this phase of crisis communication, it is important to
evaluate what went wrong – and coincidently, what may have gone right. Evaluating outcomes,
whether negative or positive, provides a unique opportunity to also contemplate what could have
been done to better inform its key publics. Or better yet, what could have been done differently
so that a situation such as the Blatter crisis is averted altogether.
As an organization begins to return to ‘normal’ after a crisis, providing follow-up
information to key publics is a critical step. This will present an opportunity for FIFA to
acknowledge ineffective business practices and present new initiatives that reflect changes
resulting from the evaluation phase. Notably, this is a unique learning opportunity for any
organization to gain valuable insight and apply better business practices as it also serves as a
benchmark for future situations that may occur.

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These practices can best be associated and explained by the Situation Crisis
Communication Theory (“SCCT”). As noted by Coombs (2007), SCCT provides an evidence-
based framework for understanding how to maximize the reputational protection afforded by
post-crisis communication. SCCT is designed to provide a set of guidelines that can be used for
crisis response strategies to protect the reputation of the organization (Coombs, 2007).
As it relates to the relative effectiveness of response strategies, it generally depends on
the nature of the crisis itself. Consequently, a ‘one type fits all’ strategy for post-crisis responses
can prove to be ineffective. However, by launching a fierce public relations campaign,
reminding the world that FIFA helps to support soccer (fútbol) teams, players, coaching staffs,
and fans alike — a community of over a billion people — rather than serving as a club for the
financial ambitions of small few. That being said, FIFA’s success will ultimately depend on its
ability to revamp its image from what some would call a shady organization – rather than the
non-profit giant it portrays to be.

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