MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FIFA is “like an old boys’ network” claims Transparency International

Sepp Blatter, FIFA's 75-year-old president and head of the “network”

FIFA should limit terms for senior officials, set up an independent group to clear up anti-corruption allegations and “embrace transparency,” corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) said.

TI said that, despite recent measures, world soccer's governing body still gave the impression of being run “like an old boys' network.”

FIFA reacted swiftly to TI's findings, issuing a statement which said: “The FIFA President already publicly stated in October 2010 that FIFA would show zero tolerance toward any form of corruption in football.

”While FIFA acknowledges that work remains to be done, it is convinced that the measures which have been implemented and the direction which has been taken will help to further strengthen FIFA's governance in cooperation with the FIFA Executive Committee, the member associations, the confederations and other FIFA stakeholders.“

TI, however, said a great deal remained to be done at FIFA and urged that a new anti-corruption group should be composed of representatives from outside FIFA, such as elder statesmen, sponsors, media and civil society, and from inside football, such as players, those involved in women's football, referees and supporters.

”FIFA says it wants to reform, but successive bribery scandals have left public trust in it at an all-time low,“ said Sylvia Schenk, TI's senior advisor on sport.

”Working with an oversight group - taking its advice, giving it access, letting it participate in investigations - will show whether there is going to be real change. The process has to start now.“

Sepp Blatter, FIFA's 75-year-old president re-elected for a fourth term in June, promised to create a new committee to act as a watchdog, mentioning former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Spanish tenor Placido Domingo as possible members. He has yet to announce further details.

In its report, the Berlin-based watchdog, which issues a global league table of the least corrupt nations, said: ”FIFA is both a non-governmental, non-profit organization and a global company with huge revenues, unprecedented reach, political clout and enormous worldwide social influence.“

However, it said FIFA was accountable only to its 208 member associations who elected the FIFA president and, in turn, received handouts from soccer's governing body.

”This lack of mandatory accountability to the outside world makes it unlikely that change will come either from within the organization or from the grassroots of the football organizations,” the report added.

FIFA has been hit by a series of corruption scandals in the last year.

Two executive committee members were banned last November for allegedly offering to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, subsequently awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.

Last month, Asian Football Confederation chief Mohammed Bin Hammam was banned for life for allegedly trying to buy votes in the June presidential election where he was a candidate.

Fellow executive committee member Jack Warner, a leading FIFA powerbroker, quit after being put under investigation in the same case.