By Andrew Warshaw
April 12 – Whilst the process for hosting the 2026 World Cup is perhaps the standout item on the agenda for next month’s FIFA Congress (see separate article), the future of FIFA’s ethics committee and the crisis involving Palestine and Israel are also up for potentially contentious discussion in Bahrain.
Last year Gianni Infantino managed to smuggle through a motion that allowed FIFA Council members to hire and fire members of the independent bodies and item 13 on the agenda – election or dismissal of members of the judicial bodies, the Audit and Compliance Committee, and the Governance Committee – will certainly get tongues wagging as rumours mount that Infantino is seeking to replace chief investigator Cornel Borbely and leading ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert both of whose mandates are about to expire.
The FIFA membership will also be asked to take a stand over the thorny issue of the six Israeli league teams playing in the occupied territories.
The Palestine Football Association, which is getting increasingly impatient with highly sensitive yet inconclusive mediation efforts, wants congress to officially recognise its rights in the area though whether Israel will be sanctioned or just receive another token slap on the wrist remains to be seen with Infantino keen not to rock the boat after just one year in charge.
Also on the agenda is a request by the Iraqis to have the ban on playing home games lifted whilst there is a somewhat intriguing item about compensation for FIFA Council members and presidents of member associations – proposed by the Rwandan Football Association.
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