The split between UEFA and FIFA President Sepp Blatter "has widened" after reports FIFA "watered down a report into reform proposals," according to Martyn Ziegler of the PA. German magazine Der Spiegel has reported that criticism of Blatter by FIFA Independent Governance Committee Chair Mark Pieth was removed from his final report by FIFA Legal Dir Marco Villiger. The report was done by Pieth, "who said he was aware of the changes made." Pieth said, "The latest revelations regarding the Pieth report show that FIFA's independent governance committee was anything but independent." Der Spiegel claimed that passages in Pieth's final report "were changed to remove comments about Blatter's role in the ISL corruption scandal" where former FIFA President Joao Havelange and several other senior FIFA figures were "revealed to have been paid bribes by FIFA's former marketing partner" (PA, 2/9).
PRINCE ALI, UEFA REACT: REUTERS' Mike Collett reported FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and UEFA "reacted angrily" on Monday. Prince Ali, a FIFA VP and exec committee member, is one of three men standing, with European support, against Blatter
in this year's presidential elections. He said in a statement, "Media reports over the weekend are a reminder of
why we need Michael Garcia's report into FIFA's World Cup bidding
process to be published in full. There does appear to be evidence of
interference in the drafting of the so-called independent Pieth report
by FIFA. This is deeply worrying and suggests something is not right at
the heart of FIFA governance" (REUTERS, 2/9). SKY SPORTS reported Pieth had raised issues about Blatter's "leadership responsibilities"
as well as his "possible complicity in the scandal," according to Der
Spiegel, which said Pieth submitted a 15-page draft of his report and
Villiger "returned it two weeks later with 37 notes and various
deletions" (SKY SPORTS, 2/9).
