British media busy lying than telling the truth: Fifa

“more busy lying than telling the truth”.

Fifa’s senior vice president Julio Grondona, on Wednesday, rapped the British media for fabricating stories against the world football governing body after England’s failed attempts at having their way with the organisation.

Last year England lost the bid to host the 2018 World Cup to Qatar and at the recent 61st Fifa Congress, England FA chair David Bernastein’s attempts – saw him rope in the House of Windsor – to postpone the presidential elections hit a brickwall when the motion was dismissed by 172 votes to 17.

Said Grondona: “We always have attacks from England which are mostly lies with the support of journalism which is more busy lying than telling the truth . . . please leave the Fifa family alone, and when you speak, speak the truth”.

Fifa’s sentiments about the duplicitous western media resonate with many Zimbabweans who saw their country being dragged through the mud by the British media that hunts in packs on cue from Number 10 Downing Street.

Western media have peddling lies about Zimbabwe pursuant to effecting illegal regime change aimed at replacing the revolutionary Zanu-PF party with the foreign-funded MDC.
Bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Britain soured following the Government’s decision to acquire land from white former commercial farmers for distribution to the landless black majority.

Former Media, Information and Publicity deputy minister, Cde Bright Matonga who worked at the BBC World Service said English media have a “follow the flag” policy in which they always advocate the interests of their country, even at the expense of truth and fairness and in light of the waning fortunes of the Isles, they always defend their wounded pride.

Said Cde Matonga: “British media always follow the flag and take the positions by their Government when it comes to matters of national interest whether that is wrong or right.
“Any journalist knows what is good for them and I wish it were the same here.”

He said the BBC was controlled by the State while private organisations were linked to politicians in the Labour and Conservative parties.
He noted that England had been hurt by losing the bid to host the 2018 soccer showpiece and after putting so much effort and resources in the project had scores to settle with Fifa.

Head of the Midlands State University’s Media and Society Studies Department Mr Zvenyika Mugari said the biggest problem in the British and American media was that they are hostages to capitalist interests.
He noted that after peddling lies against Zimbabwe, the media showed themselves to be compromised.

“They are colonised by capital and they speak the language of capital and they defend capital when its interests clash with other concerns,” said Mr Mugari.
However, he said, the media also had to play the watchdog role and keep checks on abuses and point out where there are abuses and misdeeds.

Another academic, Mr Peter Mandava who is also a media studies lecturer at the MSU says that British media’s beef with Fifa related to the former’s flopped bid for 2018.
He said of Western media: “Normally they follow the flag. In International relations they follow the foreign policy of their nations and you find they are compromised and propagandistic.

“That’s why you see the CNN sounding more American than the president of America.”
Zimbabwe has been on the receiving end of Western propaganda, some of which is manufactured here by western-sponsored media.

Much of it has been a deliberate falsehood to tarnish the image of the country.