Since FIFA announced in July that U.S. attorney MICHAEL GARCIA would lead an investigation into the bids to host the World Cup in ’18 and ’22, many prominent leaders from top int’l football organizations and bodies have weighed in on the issue. The most recent development related to the investigation, which has created headlines for months, came on Oct. 17, when FIFA claimed it cannot legally publish the report. HANS-JOACHIM ECKERT, the chairman of the adjudicatory wing of the ethics committee, said, “Publishing the report in full would actually put the FIFA ethics committee and FIFA itself in a very difficult situation legally." He insisted that FIFA's stance on "not publishing the whole report remains correct, with only his findings set to be made public." Many who have reacted to the news have been critical of the lack of transparency.
Garcia: “The investigation and adjudication process operates in most parts unseen and unheard. That’s a kind of system which might be appropriate for an intelligence agency but not for an ethics compliance process in an international sports institution that serves the public and is the subject of intense public scrutiny. An ethics committee -- even a serious, independent ethics committee backed by a strong code of ethics -- is not a silver bullet. What is required is leadership: leadership that sends a message that the rules apply to everyone; leadership that wants to understand and learn from any mistakes or mis-steps the ethics committee may have identified; leadership that makes it clear to everyone -- ‘This is what we’ve set up the ethics committee to do, this is why they do it, and this is what they’ve done.’”
(London GUARDIAN, 10/13).
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Thierry Weil
Source: GETTY IMAGES |
FIFA Marketing Dir
THIERRY WEIL: "The report will be given in the beginning of November, so let's wait until then. After that I'm happy for you to say FIFA was transparent or not" (
GOAL, 10/9).
Coca-Cola Dir of Football Management AMBER STEELE: "Anytime with the FIFA World Cup, or FIFA, there is any tainting of the event, we're concerned about it" (BLOOMBERG, 10/9).
Former FIFA Independent Governance Committee member MICHAEL HERSHMAN: "I don't believe FIFA will ever have enough credibility unless there's a change in leadership and that doesn't appear to be happening. There's a great deal of cynicism about FIFA and frankly it's well-deserved, but I'd rather see more anger than cynicism. I would like to see FIFA release the report, with appropriate protection for people's privacy, because some people may be innocent. Without a release of the report, FIFA will continue to be ridiculed in the press and by other stakeholders” (DPA, 10/7).
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Michel Platini
Source: GETTY IMAGES
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UEFA President
MICHEL PLATINI: "I have no issue with the findings and recommendations being made available to the public. As long as the regulations of the FIFA code of ethics regarding the actual investigation are respected, I support the publishing of the report" (
BBC, 10/2).
FIFA VP PRINCE ALI BIN AL-HUSSEIN: "The entire football family and those who follow the game worldwide have a full right to know the contents of the report in the spirit of complete openness" (BBC, 10/2).
FIFA President SEPP BLATTER: "The only contact we have had with the president of the (ethics committee) investigatory chamber has been his press releases that we have received in FIFA. But we have not received any demands or requests from Mr. Garcia to speak to us, or to ask that we should make a decision on this report and to publish this report, and to change the confidentiality which is in the code of ethics of FIFA" (REUTERS, 9/26).
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Sepp Blatter
Source: GETTY IMAGES
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FIFA Legal Dir
MARCO VILLIGER: "The code of ethics is based on certain principles, one of which is confidentiality.
Cooperation between witnesses and the ethics
committee is based on confidentiality, if not perhaps certain witnesses,
whistleblowers or other parties might not co-operate to such an
extent" (
REUTERS, 9/26).
