Banned FIFA President Sepp Blatter was at the HQ of football's governing body on Tuesday for a hearing "to appeal against his eight-year suspension from the sport," according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. Blatter, 79, was banned in December along with UEFA President Michel Platini over a payment of $2M made to the Frenchman in '11 by FIFA with "Blatter's approval for work done a decade earlier." Both men denied wrongdoing. The case is now being heard by FIFA's Appeal Committee. Sources close to FIFA said that Blatter had arrived at 7:30am local time, "evading cameramen and photographers who had expected him to arrive later" (REUTERS, 2/16). REUTERS' Homewood & Mantovani reported Platini said he "hoped to clear his name in time" for Euro 2016 in June after attending a hearing on Monday to appeal against his suspension. Platini: "It's been a very good hearing, very well conducted, with people who have been sincere. ... I hope to work again as soon as possible, go back to the office as soon as the decision has been given by the Appeal Committee and then prepare the Euro (tournament). There are important things to do" (REUTERS, 2/15).
CAMPAIGN TURNS UGLY: In London, Charles Sale reported the FIFA presidential campaign "took an ugly turn on Monday" when a Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa supporter "wrongly claimed" Arab rival Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan "had a retired Israeli footballer on his PR team." Mohammed Mdwb, senior national team media officer for the Bahrain FA -- Sheikh Salman's home association -- tweeted that 73-year-old Shimon Cohen, who played for Israel from '64-68, was working for Prince Ali. He "ramped up his dirty-tricks campaign by sending messages and pictures of Ali and Cohen together to the Palestinian FA" -- with "obvious incendiary intent." However, Mdwb "had got the wrong man, mistaking highly respected 55-year-old Welsh PR expert Shimon Cohen for the former football international of the same name." Ali's advisor Cohen said, "This is a disgraceful racist attack by Salman's home FA, implying that just because I am a Jew, there is an Israeli plot afoot" (DAILY MAIL, 2/15).
RECRUITING PROCESS: FIFA is in an ongoing process involving all its member associations that looks to enlarge the pool of trained FIFA security officers by identifying, recruiting and deploying female security professionals. FIFA Dir Security Ralf Mutschke said, "As we are currently lacking particularly female FIFA security officers we launched this initiative, involving all our member associations." FIFA security officer Deborah Doe said, "It is now important to raise awareness within the member associations that there's a need to address a gender balance in this field" (FIFA).
DUTCH FA BACKS INFANTINO: XINHUA reported the Dutch FA (KNVB) will vote for Gianni Infantino during the FIFA presidential elections, following the recommendation by UEFA (XINHUA, 2/15).
ON THE AIR: This weekend’s edition of CBS’ "60 Minutes" examined the ongoing FIFA scandal, with CBS’ Steve Croft noting the U.S. Justice Dept. has stated the organization has been “operating as an organized crime syndicate for the past 24 years and some of those alleged crimes, like bribery and money laundering, were planned and carried out here in the United States." Dozens of "top FIFA officials past and present are under indictment and the investigation is still in its early stages.” But “most people who follow international soccer aren’t surprised by all of this. The chicanery at FIFA has been an open secret in Europe.” Transparency Int’l Founder Michael Hershman, who worked for two years at FIFA as part of a governance committee whose task was to reform the organization, said he “assumed that we would be able to take this organization and help turn it around, but I was dissuaded from that notion fairly early on.” Hershman said there “was a lot of push back” from Blatter and the “executive committee members, many of whom were dinosaurs and didn't want to see the system change.” Kroft: “He says there was a culture of corruption at FIFA and its top officials weren’t interested in advice from outsiders. They saw themselves as diplomats, entitled to financial gratuities and expensive gifts.” Hershman added, “They wanted tribute. They were treated like kings if you will.” With the FIFA presidential election scheduled for next week in Zurich, all the candidates are “preaching reform to a FIFA membership that has long resisted it” (“60 Minutes,” CBS, 2/14).
