Fifa’s ethics committee calls for more transparency during investigations
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Version 0 of 1. Fifa’s independent ethics committee has called on world football’s governing body to allow it to be more transparent, making its investigations public and publishing the reasons for its decisions. Related: Fifa corruption inquiry: Switzerland extradites official to US Cornel Borbely, who took over as the head of the investigatory chamber of Fifa’s ethics committee in the wake of the resignation of Michael Garcia over the way his report into World Cup bidding was handled, said it should follow the same procedures as criminal investigations. Borbely said: “As it stands, the Fifa code of ethics prevents the names of accused parties within an investigation being disclosed upon request. This is inconsistent with state criminal proceedings in Switzerland and Europe, which would provide greater transparency.” He will call on Fifa’s executive committee to propose changes to its constitution in September to allow for more transparency regarding the investigations and verdicts of the independent ethics committee. Hans-Joachim Eckert, the German judge who is the head of the adjudicatory arm of the ethics committee and fell out with Garcia over the publication of his report, said it was important it was able to justify its decisions publicly. Eckert said: “This should be regardless of whether or not the football official in question is appealing the decision. Where there has been public misinformation, the ethics committee must have the right to offer a rectification.” There has been inevitable cynicism over some of the decisions taken by the independent twin-chambered ethics committee since its introduction in 2012 as part of Sepp Blatter’s “roadmap to reform”. Against the backdrop of the ongoing fallout from the arrests of seven senior Fifa officials in Zurich in May, Blatter will on Monday convene the first executive committee meeting since he promised to step down as Fifa president later this year. Last December the ethics committee launched proceedings against five individuals in the wake of Garcia’s report – believed to be the Spanish FA chief, Ángel María Villar Llona, the former head of the Chilean FA Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the Belgian Fifa executive committee member Michel D’Hooghe, the Thai executive committee member Worawi Makudi and the former Fifa executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer. The case against D’Hooghe has been closed and Mayne-Nicholls, who led the inspection process during the controversial 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process, was this month banned for seven years. The case of Mayne-Nicholls, in particular, raised eyebrows because it was assumed he was receiving a heavy punishment for a relatively minor infraction – asking if relatives could take unpaid roles at Qatar’s Aspire Academy. Under the proposed new rules, which require the approval of the Fifa executive committee, the ethics committee would have been able to outline the reasons for its decision. |