Scandal-plagued FIFA will open its “World Football Museum” on February 28 in Zurich, just two days after the election of its new president, its managing director Stefan Jost announced on Tuesday (January 12) during a press tour of the venue.
At a cost of $140 million, the museum has three floors covering about 3,000 square meters dedicated to permanent and temporary exhibitions, and 1,500 square meters of public space including a shop, a bar and a conference center. However, its opening is certain to be overshadowed by the election of the new president to replace Sepp Blatter whose tenure as president since 1998 was ended last month when he was banned for eight years from all soccer-related activities for ethics violations.
Jost, when asked if it was then the right time to open the museum, said:
“I think it is the opposite, I think it is the right time to bring the focus back on what global football, how it really impacts people’s lives, and what it does, how it unites nations’ people across all borders, and I think it’s important to go back to that, and understand that,” he said.
“We don’t expect it to have a big impact, we have done some research, we were obviously concerned at one point in time, but we see that people clearly differentiate between corrupt officials and the work of FIFA and the museum,” he insisted.
The managing director said he was expecting around 250,000 visitors a year to come and see the national jerseys of all FIFA members being displayed in the main hall as well other memorabilia and interactive exhibitions.
Jost does not know if the newly-elected president will attend the opening, but that Blatter would not.
“Sepp Blatter is banned as president, so he cannot attend in an official function. Once the museum is opened, and he buys a ticket, he can enter as a normal citizen,” he said. (Reuters)
