By Andrew Warshaw
August 11 – Francois Carrard, former director-general of the International Olympic Committee, has been confirmed by FIFA as the independent head of its much-trumpeted Reform Task Force set up in the wake of the worst corruption crisis to hit the organisation in its 111-year history.
The Swiss lawyer helped oversee the clean-up of the IOC following the Salt Lake City scandal and will be expected to achieve similar results when he chairs the new panel charged with overseeing meaningful change and putting FIFA back on an even keel.
The Salt Lake City debacle led to the expulsion or resignation of 10 members connected to its winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and was the gravest sports scandal until FIFA’s current crisis sparked by the arrest in May of a spate of senior FIFA officials and marketing executives accused by the US Department of Justice of some 24 years of systematic corruption. A separate criminal case was launched by Swiss prosecutors into the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, to be held in Russia and Qatar respectively- the two probes pushing Sepp Blatter into finally announcing he was standing down after what will be almost 18 years in charge.
”It is vital for the future of global football to restore the integrity and reputation of its governing body,” Carrard, who served as the IOC’s director general 14 years until 2003, said in a statement.
“As the independent chairman, I am committed to delivering the necessary package of credible reforms, working with representatives from within football and wider society. To that end, I will establish an independent advisory board, made up of representatives from outside football, to support the work of the committee and provide an additional layer of independent expertise.”
Carrard will lead a team of 12 officials selected by FIFA’s six continental confederations, including new FIFA executive committee member Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait, the region’s most influential sports powerbroker. Crucially, World Cup sponsors, who have become increasingly alarmed at FIFA’s damaged image and reputation, will nominate two members having initially been excluded from the panel.
Reform proposals include term limits for the FIFA president and executive committee members, the publication of salaries and stricter vetting of senior personnel via integrity checks. A final list of measures will be presented to the special FIFA Congress on February 26 when a successor to Sepp Blatter is elected.
Blatter said Carrard was “the right person to drive this reform process forward as an independent chairman with a proven track record in governance reforms.”
“We are confident that he can help FIFA to strengthen its governance structures in a credible and meaningful way. FIFA’s commercial partners will also play a key role in the reforms, and we will be discussing with them the most productive way to include their views.”
UEFA President Michel Platini, front-runner to succeed Blatter and inherit the reforms, said creating the panel was an important step. ”All of the confederations have picked their representatives based on their knowledge of football and governance matters, and we will now all work together for the greater good of the game,” Platini said in a statement.
The panel includes former IOC vice president Kevan Gosper of Australia, who was appointed by the Asian Football Confederation along with Sheikh Ahmad.
CONMEBOL nominated Gorka Villar, its general director and son of Angel Maria Villar, the long-time Spanish federation head who is a vice president of FIFA and UEFA but who is being investigated by the FIFA ethics committee over his role in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process. Uruguayan FA boss Wilmar Valdez was the other Conmebol nominee.
North America will be represented by US lawyer Samir Gandhi, of the Sidley Austin law firm in New York City and Victor Montagliani, president of the Canadian Soccer Association.
Africa’s nominees, Hany Abo Rida of Egypt and Constant Omari of Congo, will raise more than a few eyebrows since they are both members of FIFA’s current executive committee.
UEFA will be represented by its Scottish legal director Alasdair Bell and general secretary Gianni Infantino, touted as a possible replacement for Jerome Valcke as FIFA number two if Platini wins the presidency.
The Task Force was originally announced as an 11-member body but has been expanded with the addition of the sponsors, with FIFA very much in the last chance saloon.
“I think this is a very big crisis, it is somehow comparable to what I experienced with the IOC,” Carrard told reporters on a conference call.
“There are accusations of corruption against certain leaders, there are structural reforms which are badly needed. There is the interference of the political world, of the sponsors who are very unhappy, we had similar situations with the IOC at the time. And there is the interference of the justice… it is a very, very serious crisis,” he said.
Carrard said he hoped to hold the first meeting of the committee by mid-September, working on a set of proposals already formulated by Domineco Scala, independent head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee.
FIFA, meanwhile, outlined the timetable as follows: “Over the next six months, the committee will develop a package of reform proposals that will be put before the extraordinary elective Congress due to take place in Zurich on 26 February 2016.”
Reform Task Force members:
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah (Kwt) IOC member and FIFA exco member (AFC)
Alasdair Bell (Sco), UEFA legal director (UEFA)
Sarai Bareman (NZL), deputy secretary general of the OFC (OFC)
Mai Chen (NZL), founding partner at Chen Palmer, public and employment law specialists, barristers and solicitors (OFC)
Samir Gandhi (US), partner at Sidley Austin Law, New York law firm (CONCACAF)
Kevan Gosper (Australia), former IOC vice-president (AFC)
Gianni Infantino (Swz), general secretary of UEFA (UEFA)
Victor Montagliani (Can), Canadian Soccer Association president (CONCACAF)
Hany Abo Rida (Egypt), vice-president of the Egypt FA, FIFA exco member (CAF)
Constant Omar Selemani (Congo DR), president of the FA of Congo DR and FIFA exco member (CAF)
Wilmar Valdez (Uruguay), president of the Uruguayan football federation (CONMEBOL)
Gorka Villar (Spain), director-general of CONMEBOL (CONMEBOL)
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