Football's int'l administrators, "like players on the field, are collecting salaries that outstrip most of their peers in other sports, and no less so than at FIFA, annual accounts from governing bodies show," according to Tom Bergin of REUTERS. Average pay and pension contributions for staff at Zurich-based FIFA was $242,000 per employee last year. That puts staff at FIFA -- which benchmarks itself against "far bigger private sector companies" -- among the best paid in Switzerland and "within striking distance of one of the country's private banks." Down the road in Geneva, pay averaged $177,000 in '14 at UEFA. The Int'l Cycling Union (UCI), which is also based in Switzerland, paid employees "around $108,000 per head in wages, pensions and social security" in '13, the most recent year for which figures were available. Only the IOC "comes close" to FIFA. FIFA, which organizes the World Cup tournament, says that "pay levels for top staff are transparent and fairly set in line with big international companies." However, they "comfortably exceed those at many big Swiss companies." Scotland's University of Stirling School of Sport Professor Leigh Robinson said, "That is an astounding statistic. The difference between FIFA and those other companies is outrageous. It's dreadful" (REUTERS, 6/5).
