MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine human rights lawyer to become FIFA first head of Ethics Committee

Ocampo has experience of leading war crimes investigations at the International Criminal Court

FIFA, the official international governing body of football is set to appoint top human rights lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo as the first head of the new Ethics committee’s investigation arm.

Ocampo, 66, has experience of leading war crimes investigations at the International Criminal Court.

The Argentine is expected to be confirmed next month, and will investigate allegations of corruption or ethics rules’ breaches.

Ocampo's chamber will bring charges, while a separate arm will judge cases.

In March, football’s governing body announced a wide-ranging overhaul of its governance in light of a series of corruption allegations that have rocked the organisation over the last 18 months, concerning both World Cup bidding and the presidential election

FIFA single-chamber ethics committee failed to gather enough evidence to prosecute allegations of vote-rigging during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests.

A report by FIFA anti-corruption adviser, Swiss professor Mark Pieth, called FIFA past investigation of corruption allegations “unsatisfactory” with sanctions imposed both “insufficient and clearly unconvincing.”

A double ethics chamber, with one arm overseen by Ocampo, is an attempt to improve the efficiency and reputation of Fifa in this area.

Veteran lawyer Ocampo was appointed as the first chief prosecutor of the ICC in 2003, but is stepping down from his position at The Hague in June.