quarta-feira, 4 de junho de 2014

Blow the whistle on Fifa, please / Editorial (Financial Times)

 
quarta-feira, 4 de junho de 2014 6:28
 
Abysmal governance at soccer’s global body must end

Ten days from now, millions of people around the globe will have their eyes fixed on Brazil as the World Cup finals begin. While many thrills and spills lie ahead, the prestige sporting event has been tarnished by allegations of corruption at Fifa, world football’s governing body, over the choice of Qatar to host the 2022 competition.
 
Fifa and its president Sepp Blatter are no strangers to controversy. Two years ago, two leading figures at the Zurich-based body were exposed as having received millions of dollars in bribes from a marketing company. In 2011 Jack Warner, then head of the Caribbean football federation, resigned from all his positions in international soccer after facing numerous bribery allegations. That year, the election to the Fifa presidency was clouded by allegations of bribery, leading to the resignation of Mohamed bin Hammam, president of the Asian football confederation.
 
The allegations over the Qatar World Cup are of a far more serious order. The Sunday Times claims to have received secret documents implicating Mr bin Hammam in the bribery of football officials to award the 2022 World Cup to the Gulf state. The Qatari football authorities and Mr bin Hammam both deny he was involved in lobbying on Qatar’s behalf. But circumstantial evidence keeps emerging that casts doubt on the legitimacy of the World Cup vote.
 
The case for rerunning the bid for the 2022 competition looks unassailable. Final judgment should await a pending report into the Qatar bid by Fifa’s top internal investigator. But a string of controversies – among them the health concerns over staging the competition in Qatar’s furnace-like climate – means a new venue is now needed.
 
The location for 2022 is not the only issue that needs rethinking. Fifa is a body that has been mired in corruption allegations for so long – and which has been so lame in mending its shoddy governance – that it demands a complete overhaul.
 
Fifa’s responsibility in managing world football is huge. An estimated 700m people – a 10th of the world’s population – watched the 2010 World Cup final. The television rights for broadcasting the competition run to billions of dollars. In many countries, soccer has a powerful influence on social attitudes, most notably racism.
 
But far from being accountable to any outside body, Fifa acts like a sovereign state. In 2011 Mr Blatter, unable to ignore the spate of scandals, asked outside experts to make recommendations on better governance. One of those experts said most of the proposals were rejected.
 
The Swiss government could force change on Fifa, which is legally incorporated as a Swiss non-profit organisation. Switzerland ought to make international sports organisations based on its territory subject to Swiss criminal law but has been reluctant to do so. Fifa’s six main corporate sponsors – Adidas, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Emirates, Sony and Visa – could also force it to mend its ways. But they show little sign of being genuinely alarmed by the corruption claims.
 
Western governments and lawmakers should therefore bring their influence to bear. The US Congress could consider holding hearings to examine the relations between American multinationals and Fifa. US companies have to abide by stringent anti-corruption laws. Congress would be right to examine the implications of US companies doing business with a major international body that has such weak governance. Such public hearings might make corporate sponsors reconsider their stance.
 
Next week Fifa executives will bask in the party in Brazil. They know that millions of fans are obsessed by what happens on the pitch, not off. But the pork-barrel world of Fifa politics cannot continue. It demeans the players, the fans and the beautiful game itself.

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