FIFA President Gianni InfantinoGETTY IMAGES
FIFA has "officially eradicated corruption," according to the AP. All it took was "pressing the delete key." Football officials and players who "bother checking out the new code of ethics" governing their conduct will find the word "corruption" missing. They will also discover how to "avoid being banned for paying and receiving bribes." Corruption was "scrubbed" as an official misdemeanor during secret meetings where execs executed the first overhaul of the code since a "wave of scandals" left FIFA "clinically dead" in '15. That was the "hyperbole" used by FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a speech at the World Cup in June "boasting of his own apparent achievements cleaning up FIFA." But in two years as FIFA president, Infantino has been "accused of violating governance rules and forcing out officials who threatened his position." It will be "even easier now for FIFA to banish critics." A new offense was introduced in the ethics code -- "defamation." There are no specific examples, "providing flexibility for the ethics committee to decide on the burden of proof" -- as with all cases. Bribery is still prohibited in the ethics code but the ability to prosecute cases was "weakened." Ethics prosecutors now only have five years to complete cases into other general breaches of the code -- "half the previous time permitted to uncover wrongdoing" (AP, 8/14).
INTERFERENCE BANS: REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported Nigeria and Ghana could face int'l football bans this month over political interference with their FAs, FIFA said on Tuesday in a "final warning" to the two African nations. FIFA said that the Nigerian Football Federation must be led by its elected president and its exec committee "amid domestic challenges to the federation leadership." FIFA added that any ban would "not affect" the Nigerian team currently competing in the women's U20 World Cup in France as the tournament is already underway. Ghana will also be banned this month if an order to liquidate its FA is not withdrawn (REUTERS, 8/14).
