By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
May 11 – After a 48-hour assault on his leadership, Gianni Infantino finally explained the overhaul of FIFA’s top watchdogs today but did little to enhance his desire to be regarded as the standard bearer of democracy and fair play.
With the decision to replace the heads of all FIFA’s main governance bodies bar one having prompted a media frenzy, Infantino provided little clarity as to why the changes were made as he hid behind the apparent need for geo-political diversity.
Ethics chiefs Cornel Borbely and Hans-Joachim Eckert, Swiss and German respectively, and Portugal’s Miguel Maduro, highly respected head of the governance and review committee, were all replaced by non-Europeans in the build-up to the FIFA Congress here, having come to the end of their mandates.
All their successors were rubber-stamped by FIFA’s 211 members, theoretically giving Infantino a platform to justify that the governance personnel had to have a more international complexion.
Yet his explanations left a lot to be desired, no better illustrated by the fact that Tomaž Vesel of Slovenia, a close ally of Infantino, managed to hold on as head of the audit and compliance committee, totally contradicting Infantino’s argument that the overhaul was implemented because there were too many Europeans pulling the strings and because terms of office, whether one year or four, had simply expired.
Much has been made of Borbely and Eckert, who have become household names in the fight against corruption, being jettisoned. Both believe there was an ulterior motive for removing then and that “hundreds” of complex ongoing investigations now risk being left unsolved for years because the new team will need time to get to grips with each case.
Both men believe FIFA have sabotaged the ethics process but Infantino saw no problem with bringing in fresh blood.
“It’s a storm in a teacup,” he declared, saying replacing Borbely and Eckert had nothing to do with last year’s ethics investigation into own conduct.
“I have no issues with either of them,” said Infantino. “Certainly not. I’m probably the most scrutinised person in the world. What happened is a simple question of due process. All those coming in are serious people who have amply proved their qualities. Mandates come to an end. We shouldn’t make a tragedy out of it. The people coming in have plenty of experience.”
He failed, however, to bring clarity to a host of other issues, not least why there was no transition period and why Eckert and Borbely found out from the media about their situation. “One mandates ends, another begins,” was his somewhat inadequate response. “It’s not about renewing or not renewing. And you can’t tell someone something until a decision has been made.”
On the subject of why Maduro, who Infantino hailed this time last year as a bastion of good governance, lasted only a year, the explanation was once again shrouded in obfuscation.
“We are a worldwide organisation. Some of the comments I was receiving …including that the FIFA president was Swiss, the chairman of the disciplinary committee was Swiss, as was the chairman of the ethics investigatory chamber. The chairman of the adjudicatory chamber was German. A governance committee member was also European.”
So did that mean nationality and geo-politics outweighed experience, talent and ability? “We had to take these comments into account,” replied Infantino who insisted the decisions were not taken unilaterally as German FA boss Reinhard Grindel had suggested on Wednesday.
“The proposals were from all confederation presidents taking into account the best CVs and the geography.”
Vis a vis the Palestine-Israel issue, Infantino shrugged off criticism that he was deliberately using delaying tactics. “We have to have a decision. Whether it will satisfy one party or the other, or none, or both, I don’t know. It will be discussed by the Council in India in October.”
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