FIFA President Sepp Blatter said that football's governing body "must enact changes to allow the sport to continue the fight against corruption even as some former advisers question the group's reform plans," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. The ruling body's 209 members "will vote on proposed changes this week at FIFA's annual meeting on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius this week." Blatter said the process follows an "extensive consultation process" that started in '11, the year when the Zurich-based body was forced by stakeholders including sponsors of its $5B World Cup to reform following graft allegations. Blatter: "We have a democratic process in place, we follow it. Between '11 and '13, I made a lot of effort to take this reform process as far as I could, but it is now up to the FIFA Congress to decide on these measures." Former advisers have criticized FIFA "for not doing enough to crack down on corruption." Transparency Int'l, an anti-corruption group, quit as an adviser before the process formally started in '11. Last month, Alexandra Wrage, president of Trace Int'l, a non-profit organization in Canada that provides anti-bribery compliance advice to multinational companies, "left the advisory group created by Blatter to suggest reforms" (BLOOMBERG, 5/27).
OTHER POINTS: REUTERS' Brian Homewood wrote proposed age limits for FIFA officials could be considered as a form of discrimination, Blatter said on Monday, "as the 77-year-old reaffirmed his opposition to the idea." Blatter: "I've already said I was against the age limit as I believe it is not a relevant criteria, not everyone is the same at 60, 70, 80, etc. It could even be seen as discriminatory. Passion makes the difference" (REUTERS, 5/27). EUROSPORT wrote on the FIFA Congress agenda are 10 main points which, added to those approved last year in Budapest, "are designed to increase the integrity and transparency of the federation which will chart the direction the world's most popular sport takes in the future." If Blatter succeeds in persuading Congress to vote his way, "it will strengthen his hand and could tempt him to seek a fifth term of office in 2015, despite his earlier promise that the current mandate would be his last" (EUROSPORT, 5/27).
