( CNN ) -- It has been branded `` hateful and deliberately demeaning , '' but the media is key to changing the way football works , says one leading economist . The game 's global governing body FIFA has faced a slew of corruption allegations over the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups , most recently claims that bribes were paid to Caribbean , Asian and African officials in order to secure Qatar the right to host the latter tournament . But former Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairman Jim O'Neill insists that the pressure applied by the media towards football organizations helps to promote transparency and good governance . `` It 's very legitimate , the questions being asked , more focus on it would be healthy , '' said O'Neill . `` At the end of the day it is something that connects hundreds of millions , if not billions of people around the world , they deserve a better deal . '' O'Neill argues that the media is the only body holding FIFA accountable for its actions . `` It forces them to take more responsibility , '' he added . `` I think the media here is a highly legitimate form of enforcing it . '' The investigative work done by British newspaper the Sunday Times in recent weeks has prompted a FIFA backlash from key figures within the organization as well as president Sepp Blatter , criticizing the media coverage Monday . The Confederation of African Football ( CAF ) launched a stinging response to allegations of wrongdoing following its general assembly , which was held in Sao Paulo , Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup , which gets under way in the city on Thursday . CAF passed a resolution attacking `` the repeated , deliberately hateful , defamatory and degrading attacks by some media , notably British , on the image and the integrity of the Confederation of African Football , its president ( Issa Hayatou ) , its members , its member associations and the entire African continent . '' It went onto claim African football officials were being used as a `` scapegoats '' and thanked Blatter for his `` personal commitment to the fight against racism . '' Blatter was in similarly defiant mood at an Asian Football Confederation ( AFC ) meeting -- also in Sao Paulo -- despite many of FIFA 's corporate partners , such as electronics giant Sony , calling for an investigation into corruption allegations . `` We have seen what the British press has published , '' said Blatter , who has been FIFA president since 1998 . `` I do n't know what the reasoning is behind this but we must maintain unity . '' Referring to the recent storm around FIFA as `` Qatar-gate , '' Blatter warned that his critics wanted `` to destroy , not the game , but they want to destroy the institution . '' The eyes of the world are on Brazil ahead of it hosting the World Cup for the second time in its history and the first time since 1950 . A string of protests and demonstrations over the reported $ 11 billion spent on the tournament have dominated the build up to this World Cup . A strike by subway workers in Sao Paulo on Monday caused chaos in the city which will host Brazil 's first match against Croatia . Hosting football 's biggest tournament is often billed as an opportunity to regenerate a country by reinvesting the money generated into domestic projects . But O'Neill , who is famous for coining the term `` BRIC '' to describe the rapidly-growing economies of Brazil , Russia , India and China in 2001 , questions whether the tournament will benefit Brazil . `` There 's not a huge amount of evidence that hosting a World Cup , particularly once it starts , benefits a country , '' explained O'Neill , who is honorary professor of economics at the University of Manchester . `` In principle , the build-up , with the infrastructure spending , has helped some countries , but the effects are very hard to see . If anything , there is a bit more evidence that the opposite happens , that countries get a bit carried away and they spend more than they can really afford . `` Once the party is over , it fizzles out . If I was Brazilian , particularly given the slowdown they 've had in the past couple of years , I would n't wanted to be resting my hopes for the future on hosting the World Cup . ''
Media branded `` hateful '' by Asian football 's rulemakers following corruption allegations . FIFA has faced allegations of wrongdoing of the awarding of this World Cup to Qatar . FIFA president Jim O'Neill calls for `` unity '' following investigation by FIFA . Leading economist Sepp Blatter says media holds football 's powerbrokers to account .