Poll: Fans lack confidence in FIFA, election candidates

About 25,000 fans in 28 countries answered questions regarding FIFA's current state and how it's impacted them.

On the day that Transparency International released its Global Corruption Report: Sport, the group also released a survey in conjunction with Forza Football of 25,000 fans in 28 countries. The survey on attitudes toward FIFA and reform comes ahead of Friday’s FIFA presidential election in Zurich, and it shows that FIFA has a long ways to go to improve its credibility as an organization.

“FIFA should take this message to heart. Unless it acts more fans will turn away from football. The trust levels are low but the fans will give FIFA a chance if it acts now,” Gareth Sweeney, editor of the Global Corruption Report: Sport, said.

To wit:

The top five countries whose fans stated they had no confidence in FIFA:

Chile (88%), Argentina (80%), Ireland (80%), South Korea (80%), Spain (76%)

The top five countries whose fans stated they do have confidence in FIFA:

Thailand (55%), Japan (53%), Russia (46%), South Africa (31%), Qatar (30%)

In the UK, 76% of fans stated that they don’t have confidence in FIFA.

In Sweden, 75% of fans stated that they don’t have confidence in FIFA.

In the USA, 66% of fans stated that they don’t have confidence in FIFA.

In France, 63% of fans stated that they don’t have confidence in FIFA.

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The top countries whose fans stated that there should be more women in FIFA:

Costa Rica (83%), Colombia (78%), Spain (76%), Sweden (75%), France and USA (72%)

The top countries whose fans stated that they should not be more women in FIFA:

Russia (52%), Saudi Arabia (46%), Qatar (35%), Austria (32%), Germany (30%)

As for other questions in the survey, 50% of U.S.-based and total responders believe that FIFA will restore its reputation at some point, while 52% of all fans polled say that the FIFA scandal has not impacted how much they enjoy the sport.

Friday's election will certainly play a role in determining how these numbers fluctuate going forward.