By Andrew Warshaw
July 24 – FIFA’s number two, secretary-general Jerome Valcke, has admitted for the first time that he will leave the organisation when Sepp Blatter is replaced but says the next urgent priority is an emergency summit with front-line sponsors as a result of the corruption crisis enveloping the organisation.
Ever since Blatter announced on June 2 that he was ending his tenure as president, it has been mooted that Valcke, who like his boss did not travel to Canada for the Women’s World Cup amidst the ongoing FBI corruption investigation, would do the same.
Specifically asked that question at a press conference which followed today’s meeting of the World Cup organising committee, Valcke, who was appointed in the summer of 2007, conceded he would go once the February 26 election to replace Blatter is over.
“If I was the next FIFA president, I would take a new general secretary… because it’s the most important relationship in any organisation,” said Valcke who looked like he was anticipating the question. “Whoever becomes president should appoint his own CEO. It’s a key function.”
Saying he would be looking forward to some privacy once the presidential election is out of the way, Valcke added: “What I want to do with my life is between me and myself.”
Like Blatter, Valcke has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the corruption scandal though the 54-year-old was caught up in the allegations around the dispatching of a $10 million donation to the African diaspora in the Caribbean as part of South Africa’s 2010 World Cup legacy programme. Valcke signed the money transfer documents from FIFA at the request of the South African government.
Later documents suggest that former CONCACAF president Jack Warner diverted the money for cash withdrawals, personal loans and credit card payments. The South Africans are adamant the cash was intended for football development and Valcke insists he did nothing wrong.
He may not always have used the most diplomatic language but he will be a hard act to follow in terms of his hands-on dedication, plain-speaking approach and trouble-shooting skills. He denied any responsibility for the recent damage to FIFA’s image.
“As the head of the administration I can be proud of what the administration has done and I don’t think the administration has ever been part of the stories around FIFA including the commercial agreements we have signed,” he told reporters.
“There is no suggestion of any wrongdoings [so] I don’t think I’m involved or have anything to do in this case. I am responsible only for my own duty to implement the decisions of congress and of the executive committee.”
In the meantime, with Visa adding its name to stinging criticism of FIFA, Valcke revealed all the main commercial partners would attend a summit next month “to make sure that from their side” the recently established 11-member reform Task Force, to be led by a neutral chairman, is acceptable.
Valcke admitted that the growing disquiet among the sponsors was a worry. No replacement has yet been signed up to replace Emirates while none of the 20 regional sponsorship slots have been agreed.
“The current situation doesn’t help to finalise any new agreements – that is a fact. And I’m sure until the election on February 26 there will not be any major announcements,” he said.
“Two or three days ago we received a letter from all of them offering to meet all together. So there will be a meeting in August between all the main commercial partners and FIFA….to reassure them that the reform process should be, and has to be, [undertaken] through an independent body.”
By body one assumes Valcke means chairman since all 10 other members of the Task Force are scheduled to be from the confederations.
Whether that will be enough to placate the sponsors remains to be seen but Valcke was confident the necessary gaps would be filled in time for the World Cup.
“Maybe there are some ongoing negotiations with two major companies around the world to reach the first level of FIFA sponsorship. I don’t know if it will be announced before the election. Is this too late? Not as long as we reach agreements in the first part of 2016, which is more than a year before the Confederations Cup, for sponsors to activate their programmes.”
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