Half of the world's top 10 FAs "do not publish any financial accounts, illustrating the scale of the challenge to bring transparency to world football," according to Malcolm Moore of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Belgium, Germany and Argentina, the world’s top three ranked teams, have "entirely opaque finances," according to new research from Transparency Int'l, which found that 81% of the 209 countries that receive funding from FIFA "do not publish any accounts." Other countries that do not publish their finances include Chile, Colombia and France, the world’s fifth, seventh, and 24th ranked teams. TI said, "Each year, FIFA hands out millions of dollars to football associations. We believe fans have a right to know how the money FAs generate through their interest in football is spent." It added that it had set the bar for its research "at a very low level," examining if each FA had public accounts, public report of its activities, an organizational statute and a code of conduct. It found that "only 14 countries had all four, including Canada, England and Japan." Between '11 and '14, FIFA gave each of its 209 members a minimum of $2.05M in funding, including a $1.05M bonus after the 2014 World Cup. TI said, "FIFA says the money is for developing football. But 81 percent of football associations have no financial records publicly available. 21 percent have no websites. 85 percent publish no activity accounts of what they do" (FT, 11/19). The AP reported TI Managing Dir Cobus de Swardt said, "The risk of corruption at too many football associations around the world is high." Only two of FIFA's six continental confederations, UEFA and the Confederation of African Football, revealed their annual accounts. The report said, "Other than a partial accounting on the FIFA website, there is no clear way to track what the [members] did with all that money" (AP, 11/19). REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported TI said that FIFA should "make it a condition of membership that FAs publish information about themselves." The report said, "Where there is a lack of information there are heightened corruption risks. The arrests of FIFA executives and their business partners have made the world aware of the corruption that can become systemic, even in football. If football organizations incorporate best anti-corruption practices into how they operate, they can begin to win back trust among fans, limit the scope for bribery and corruption, and help in the fight against match-fixing" (REUTERS, 11/19).
