Feb 25 Acting FIFA president Issa Hayatou on Thursday urged soccer leaders on Thursday to adopt reforms to restore credibility to the sport’s world governing body after the worst corruption scandal in its history.
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Finance, development and governance committees must have a minimum number of independent members who will be audited by a fully independent audit and compliance committee.
Francois Carrard, the independent chairman of the reform committee, presented the 62-page document to delegates, saying football’s world governing body had a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It will be responsible for setting the overall strategic direction, with a new general secretariat (effectively an executive board) overseeing the daily operational and commercial actions. FIFA’s new President will only be allowed keep their position for a maximum of three four-year periods.
President of Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) Rovnag Abdullayev and Secretary General Elkhan Mammadov will participate in the FIFA Congress and the 11th Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland.
A minimum of one female representative will be elected as a council member per confederation.
The reforms represent an essential step towards the modernization of FIFA’s institutional culture in key areas such as the clear separation of political and management functions, term limits, the disclosure of individual compensation, greater recognition and promotion of women in football and a commitment to enshrining human rights in the FIFA Statutes.
Outgoing president Sepp Blatter, 79, was the big absentee at the congress. The Swiss suffered a spectacular fall in the space of the last nine months. It also separates FIFA’s policy decision-making from its business practices, Reuters reports.
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Blatter is now banned from football for six years for ethics breaches along with European football chief Michel Platini. Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa and Gianni Infantino, from Switzerland, are the frontrunners to succeed Blatter.
