"The gangsters must not escape punishment" says man brought in to clean up FIFA

By David Gold

January 26 – Mark Pieth (pictured), the Swiss professor and chairman of the independent Governance Committee charged with reforming FIFA, has claimed he would be surprised if there are no more scandals to come after one of the most difficult periods in the organisations history.

The past two years have been a tumultuous time for world football’s governing body with the cash-for-votes scandal, prior to the FIFA Presidential election in June, eventually leading to the resignation of Jack Warner and the expulsion for life of Mohamed Bin Hammam.

Reynald Temarii and Amos Adamu, both members of FIFA’s Executive Committee, were suspended in 2010 after allegedly offering to sell their votes for the host of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups during a Sunday Times investigation.

Another member of the FIFA Executive Committee, Ricardo Teixeira, still remains the subject of a fraud investigation at home in Brazil as he clings onto his role both in FIFA and domestically as the head of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), having also been forced to relinquish some control of the country’s 2014 World Cup preparations.

Teixeira is also thought to be one of three current FIFA Executive Committee members, along with former President João Havelange, implicated for taking kick-backs from the organisation’s former marketing partner ISL.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter this week repeated his desire to publish files which reveal who took money from ISL before it went bankrupt in 2001, with this likely to be before the end of the month.

Speaking to German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Pieth responded when asked whether he expected more scandals: “I cannot judge yet,” before adding “it would surprise me if it went off without scandal.”

Pieth also said: “We must see to it that the gangsters do not escape in the wake of reform detractors.”

He insisted that Blatter (pictured left), who has already said he will step down in 2015, leaving FIFA was not key to the reform process, before adding that he expected more heads to roll.

“Many of those who now sit on the Executive Committee will not be there much longer,” Pieth said.

“They will resign because of scandals.”

During his conversation with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Pieth said that his powers were limited, explaining that “we cannot decide and make recommendations only”.

Pieth said that if FIFA did not listen to their proposals the only option left for him would be to “appeal to the public”.

“We will need the media very much,” he added.

Describing FIFA as an organisation which “lacks regulation” and with “a gentleman’s club structures”, he also said: “I would not say that FIFA is corrupt, but there are too many corrupt individuals in this structure.”

He added that there is a faction determined to stop corruption in the organisation, and some of the reforms Pieth is working on will be ready to present at the next FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Zurich this March.

Pieth also took the opportunity to defend the fact that he is being paid by FIFA, describing it as a “red herring”.

“Money always does create some risk, but I see no problem in our case,” he said.

“If we get nothing, but would have to provide the public the question of why someone does the work pro bono.

“FIFA is unlikely to [give] pro bono services.

“I chose five governance experts who are completely independent and have proven many times before [their] independence.

“These are serious people with a good reputation.

“We control each other…it would be foolish if we were cliques.”

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