FIFA Governance: A Decade of Change?

On the tenth anniversary of FIFAGate, FairSquare, NGOs, academics, writers, whistleblowers and football supporters’ groups have argued that “FIFA is arguably more poorly governed today than a decade ago”.

On the eve of a FIFA Congress on 27 May 2015, Swiss authorities, acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, arrested seven senior football officials at Zurich’s Baur au Lac hotel. The dramatic early-morning raid was part of a far-reaching investigation into corruption at the heart of world football’s governing body. The image travelled around the world and FIFA forever became a byword for corruption.

Within days of the arrests, long-serving FIFA president Sepp Blatter stood down, bringing an end to his 17-year tenure. His departure set in motion a period of upheaval that culminated in the election of Gianni Infantino as president in February 2016, amid pledges to overhaul the organisation’s governance and restore its tarnished reputation.

However, critics of Infantino’s regime issued a statement on Tuesday, arguing that FIFA has regressed, citing eight examples of its “failures”, including “an extractive business model for World Cup tournaments, placing a huge financial burden on host governments and taxpayers” and “selective enforcement of its statutory rules”.

“This statement demonstrates not only the rank failure of the reforms enacted under the presidency of Gianni Infantino, but also the breadth of expert opposition to and frustration with FIFA’s dysfunctional governance model,” said Nick McGeehan, the co-director of FairSquare, which coordinated the joint statement.

Among the failures, the statement noted: “FIFA bent, changed and broke its rules firstly to ensure that Saudi Arabia would be the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup.”

It also highlighted FIFA’s sponsorship deal with Aramaco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company: “In the midst of a climate crisis, FIFA World Cups will now bear and promote the brand of the world’s biggest single corporate emitter of greenhouse gases.”

Last but not least, FairSquare and others lamented Infantino’s cosying up to autocrats and Donald Trump.

“The leadership of FIFA has zero credibility. It has no intention of addressing the serious structural flaws in the organisation, and continues to make choices that are obviously not in the best interests of the game. Reform is desperately needed,” said Anders Kjellevold, chairman of football supporters’ group Norsk Supporterallianse in Norway, one of nine organisations that added their name to the joint statement.

The statement was signed by 35 signatories. On social media Miguel Maduro, ousted in 2017 by FIFA’s leadership from his role as head of the governance committee, wrote: “An important statement by @fairsquareprojects and many credible experts,” wrote Maduro.

“I’m sad to say, it is quite right in its assessment of FIFA reforms. The time has long passed for a genuine reform of sports governance. When will it finally happen?”

Insideworldfootball has reached out to FIFA comment.

Insideworldfootball.com