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New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
FIFA reforms criticised 10 years on from corruption raid in statement from academics and human rights groups
A decade after a police raid at a Swiss hotel plunged FIFA into crisis, a joint statement signed by academics, campaigners and fans groups has accused football's global governing body of being 'more poorly governed' now than it was then. Seven senior officials were arrested at Zurich's Baur au Lac on the eve of a FIFA Congress on May 27, 2015, as part of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into widespread corruption in the game. Advertisement Within a week of the arrests, Sepp Blatter quit as FIFA president after 17 years in the job, sparking a chain of events that led to current president Gianni Infantino's election in February 2016 and promises of sweeping changes to the organisation's governance. But the joint statement, which was coordinated by London-based human rights group FairSquare, argues that these reforms 'failed to usher in a new era of responsible government at FIFA', citing eight examples of its 'failures'. These include Infantino's close relationships with controversial global leaders, a lack of diversity in senior roles and the award of the 2034 men's World Cup to Saudi Arabia. The statement has 35 signatories, most of whom are academics, but it has also been signed by Fair Game, the campaign group that represents more than 30 British clubs, Norwegian supporters' group Norsk Supporterallianse and Abdullah Ibhais, the former Qatar 2022 official who blew the whistle on labour-rights abuses in the build-up to that World Cup. 'This statement demonstrates not only the rank failure of the reforms enacted under the presidency of Gianni Infantino but also the breadth of expert opposition to and frustration with FIFA's dysfunctional governance model,' said Nick McGeehan, the co-director of FairSquare, the UK-based human rights group which coordinated the joint statement. Portuguese academic and politician Miguel Poiares Maduro, who was ousted as chair of FIFA's governance committee in 2017 after just eight months in the role for blocking the re-election of Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko to FIFA's governing council, did not sign the statement but has posted his support on X. 'An important statement by @fairsquareprojects and many credible experts,' wrote Maduro. 'I'm sad to say, it is quite right in its assessment of FIFA reforms. The time has long passed for a genuine reform of sports governance. When will it finally happen?' Advertisement FIFA has not yet responded to the signatories' specific criticisms but it has issued a statement to highlight how far it believes it has come since the ignominy of the Baur au Lac raid. Describing the scandals of 2015 as 'a turning point for the organisation', FIFA says it has 'been able to change from a toxic organisation to a respected and trusted global sports governing body focusing on its mandate to develop football all around the world'. As evidence of this transformation, it notes that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, 'the very same authorities that had to intervene in FIFA in 2015', have recently visited the organisation's new offices in Miami and are working closely with FIFA ahead of this summer's Club World Cup and next year's men's World Cup. The statement adds that FIFA has introduced a raft of reforms, which have been recognised by other sporting bodies and enabled the Department of Justice to hand back $201million in seized assets to the FIFA Foundation following its investigations into football-related corruption. It concludes by saying 'FIFA is a completely new organisation, with more than 800 staff, the immense majority of whom were hired after 2016'.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fifa ‘more poorly governed today than 10 years ago', open letter to organisation claims
A decade after the arrests of seven of its senior officials on corruption charges, Fifa is 'arguably more poorly governed today than it was 10 years ago', figures from across the world of football have argued in an open letter to the organisation. The anniversary of the arrests at the Baur au Lac hotel in Geneva has prompted non-governmental organisations, legal figures, academics and supporter groups to call on Fifa to 'address the key structural flaws' at the root of many of its governance problems, 'most notably the deeply problematic power dynamic between the organisation's executive branch and its member associations'. The letter notes that while Fifa 'redistributes a large proportion of the revenue it generates' to its member associations and confederations, 'there is little verifiable evidence to show that the primary impact of this redistribution has been the development of the game, and considerable evidence to suggest its main purpose has been to ensure the loyalty and allegiance of member associations'. Such a model 'disincentivises ethical conduct', the letter says, and 'precludes effective internal reform'. Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, promised widespread changes to the body's practices when he was elected into the role following the Baur au Lac arrests and the resignation of the former president Sepp Blatter. 'We enter now a new era,' Infantino said in 2016. 'We'll restore the image of Fifa and make sure everybody will be happy with what we do.' Instead, in 2025 there is discontent among stakeholders and outside observers over the way the world's most popular sport is being run. 'It is time to recognise that these reforms have failed to usher in a new era of responsible governance at Fifa and that the organisation is structurally unfit to govern world football,' the letter reads. 'Fifa is arguably more poorly governed today than it was 10 years ago.' The letter goes on to cite the Club World Cup this summer and its impact on the fixture calendar, the decision to grant the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia despite the country's human rights abuses and the opacity of executive decision making, as examples of concerning trends. 'This statement demonstrates not only the rank failure of the reforms enacted under the presidency of Gianni Infantino, but also the breadth of expert opposition to and frustration with Fifa's dysfunctional governance model,' said Nick McGeehan, the co-director of human rights advocacy group FairSquare, which coordinated the letter. Bonita Mersiades, one of a group of whistleblowers to expose malfeasance in Fifa in the previous decade, said the culture had not changed in the intervening years. 'I was on the inside during the Blatter era, where wrongdoing was out in the open and the need for reform was not understood and certainly not welcome,' said Mersiades, a signatory to the letter. 'The 2015 raids were a reckoning. But 10 years on, while there may be process and policy in place under Gianni Infantino, the culture remains the same. And when it comes to process versus culture, culture wins every time. True reform demands more than new systems – it requires new values. We're not there yet.' In a statement a Fifa spokesperson said: 'A few weeks ago, the very same authorities that had to intervene [against] Fifa in 2015 – the US attorney general and FBI director – travelled to our offices in Miami, to meet Fifa leadership and work together as a highly respected partner. 'The 2015 scandal marked a turning point for the organisation, allowing a new Fifa to emerge. Thanks to the intervention of the US authorities back in 2015, we have been able to fundamentally change Fifa from a toxic organisation at the time, to a respected and trusted global sports governing body focusing on its mandate to develop football all around the world.' Fifa points to internal reforms around financial governance, positive assessments by the Association of Summer Olympic Federations as to their transparency and good governance, and a sevenfold increase in investment in football development around the world as among the positive changes made by the organisation in the past decade.
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Fifa ‘more poorly governed today than 10 years ago', open letter to organisation claims
A decade after the arrests of seven of its senior officials on corruption charges, Fifa is 'arguably more poorly governed today than it was 10 years ago', figures from across the world of football have argued in an open letter to the organisation. The anniversary of the arrests at the Baur au Lac hotel in Geneva has prompted non-governmental organisations, legal figures, academics and supporter groups to call on Fifa to 'address the key structural flaws' at the root of many of its governance problems, 'most notably the deeply problematic power dynamic between the organisation's executive branch and its member associations'. The letter notes that while Fifa 'redistributes a large proportion of the revenue it generates' to its member associations and confederations, 'there is little verifiable evidence to show that the primary impact of this redistribution has been the development of the game, and considerable evidence to suggest its main purpose has been to ensure the loyalty and allegiance of member associations'. Such a model 'disincentivises ethical conduct', the letter says, and 'precludes effective internal reform'. Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, promised widespread changes to the body's practices when he was elected into the role following the Baur au Lac arrests and the resignation of the former president Sepp Blatter. 'We enter now a new era,' Infantino said in 2016. 'We'll restore the image of Fifa and make sure everybody will be happy with what we do.' Instead, in 2025 there is discontent among stakeholders and outside observers over the way the world's most popular sport is being run. 'It is time to recognise that these reforms have failed to usher in a new era of responsible governance at Fifa and that the organisation is structurally unfit to govern world football,' the letter reads. 'Fifa is arguably more poorly governed today than it was 10 years ago.' The letter goes on to cite the Club World Cup this summer and its impact on the fixture calendar, the decision to grant the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia despite the country's human rights abuses and the opacity of executive decision making, as examples of concerning trends. 'This statement demonstrates not only the rank failure of the reforms enacted under the presidency of Gianni Infantino, but also the breadth of expert opposition to and frustration with Fifa's dysfunctional governance model,' said Nick McGeehan, the co-director of human rights advocacy group FairSquare, which coordinated the letter. Bonita Mersiades, one of a group of whistleblowers to expose malfeasance in Fifa in the previous decade, said the culture had not changed in the intervening years. 'I was on the inside during the Blatter era, where wrongdoing was out in the open and the need for reform was not understood and certainly not welcome,' said Mersiades, a signatory to the letter. 'The 2015 raids were a reckoning. But 10 years on, while there may be process and policy in place under Gianni Infantino, the culture remains the same. And when it comes to process versus culture, culture wins every time. True reform demands more than new systems – it requires new values. We're not there yet.' In a statement a Fifa spokesperson said: 'A few weeks ago, the very same authorities that had to intervene [against] Fifa in 2015 – the US attorney general and FBI director – travelled to our offices in Miami, to meet Fifa leadership and work together as a highly respected partner. 'The 2015 scandal marked a turning point for the organisation, allowing a new Fifa to emerge. Thanks to the intervention of the US authorities back in 2015, we have been able to fundamentally change Fifa from a toxic organisation at the time, to a respected and trusted global sports governing body focusing on its mandate to develop football all around the world.' Fifa points to internal reforms around financial governance, positive assessments by the Association of Summer Olympic Federations as to their transparency and good governance, and a sevenfold increase in investment in football development around the world as among the positive changes made by the organisation in the past decade.
Irish Independent
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Miguel Delaney: Even with so little to play for, the state of the Premier League is making everyone lose their minds
'Football makes people mad,' Sepp Blatter once said, and that never seems truer than when the football doesn't mean that much. Welcome to the Premier League's post-table period, where everything seems to have been turned on its head and you wouldn't necessarily guess where teams are from their feelings.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The state of the Premier League is making everyone lose their minds
'Football makes people mad,' Sepp Blatter once said, and that never seems truer than when the football doesn't mean that much. Welcome to the Premier League's post-table period, where everything seems to have been turned on its head and you wouldn't necessarily guess where teams are from their feelings. There are some parallels with the post-truth era in politics in terms of perceptions, albeit with the significant caveat that very little of it actually matters. That is the entire point. There is so little to play for, and yet that very vacuum has seemed to make so many people around football more histrionically animated than if everything was going to the wire. The latter might at least have provided some focus. The last weekend's matches were a vintage set of post-table fixtures: on the beach but in the wars. There was so much that didn't seem to make sense. Most conspicuously, there are Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, directly above the relegation zone in 16th and 17th, respectively. That's despite their positions on the Deloitte Football Money League as the fourth and ninth wealthiest clubs in the world, as they stand on the brink of a Champions League return through Europa League final glory. One of Ruben Amorim or Ange Postecoglou could lift a historic trophy, but there they were openly discussing their own futures in such an agitated manner. Most visibly, there was a white t-shirted Evangelos Marinakis publicly berating the manager who has taken his Nottingham Forest from 17th to seventh. This was despite the shipping magnate temporarily placing Forest in a 'blind trust', due to his simultaneous ownership of both Olympiakos and Rio Ave and Uefa's rules on that, as a consequence of the Nottingham club's celebrated return to European football. Documents at Companies House show Marinakis has ceased to be a "person with significant control" at the club. He didn't display too much control of emotion after the 2-2 draw with Leicester City, anyway. Most emotionally, you wouldn't have thought Liverpool were celebrating a Premier League title, given the conflicted atmosphere that developed once parts of the club started booing Trent Alexander-Arnold. Two weeks of jubilation instead evolved into what looked like an angry club culture war. Even after that 2-2 draw, Mikel Arteta chose a spirited Arsenal comeback as the moment to berate his players for performance. That was only surprising in the context of the last two weeks, and comments he has made in opposite situations that have raised eyebrows. And that is one thing that should be stressed with all of these contrasts. There are complicated contexts, that shouldn't be overlooked. Take the Liverpool case first, since that is what even Jamie Carragher said would now dominate headlines. It has. The line that has developed throughout this controversy is that no one should tell the club's supporters how to feel, and that's perfectly fair. There are highly intimate local elements to this that only does close to it would truly understand. Except, you now have Liverpool's own match-going fans telling each other how to feel. Some who attended Anfield on Sunday have talked about arguments between supporters and a divisive atmosphere. One radio show featured a local in tears about the response. It should similarly be stressed that there's a significant difference between telling fans how to feel and outsiders understandably commenting on that reaction. It's a big story, at one of the biggest clubs in the world. These are the champions, a status that supporters have waited 35 years to properly celebrate. That memory will now, at least in part, involve this internal debate. What feels remarkable from the outside - and it should very much be emphasised this is the outside - is how a title celebration has led to this. Except, we all know this wouldn't have happened if the title was actually on the line. This is a direct product of the vacuum, but also the media-industrial complex around football. There's not much to really move people on the pitch, but the business can't stop. The afterglow of a title that would normally remain so warming can't last that long when the furnace demands more. Even Alexander-Arnold's announcement had to become 'an event'. To think that there was a moment when he seemed to want to deride the noise around his future by putting his hand to his ear. He's heard it now. So has Nuno Espirito, albeit directly in his face. Forest do still have something to play for given that they're going for the Champions League but, in normal circumstances, this would be a bonus ambition amid a great season. Sure, it's disappointing that they might miss out on qualification having in January been considered as potential title challengers. Any rational analysis would conclude the team has massively overachieved, and that's even in the context of Forest's wage bill shooting up after a points deduction for a breach of financial rules last season. And yet there was Marinakis, publicly berating his manager in scenes that are unprecedented even in the Premier League. This is what football has become. Even the absurdity of the Spurs and United seasons comes from the business of the game, and how financial incentives have ensured a Uefa rule where the Europa League also brings Champions League qualification. A trophy on its own apparently isn't enough any more, so both clubs have essentially played as if their top-seven wage bills aren't enough to fully compete on two fronts. An increasingly resonant line, relayed in this writer's book 'States of Play', was what a senior NFL figure told the Premier League's founding executives when they were on a fact-finding missions. 'If you think you've got problems now, wait until you have money.' Now, a season can't just play out. The machine around it all has generated more chaos than we would have anticipated. Even the most measured business people are driven to irrationality in football. Look at some of the decisions that both Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Daniel Levy have made. And yet that is also where two sides of this meet. One of the most fascinating aspects of the Alexander-Arnold story has been mild criticism for Arne Slot for bringing the right-back on, and contributing to the conflicted atmosphere. This is essentially asking an ultra-professional title-winning manager not play one of his best players when he's trying to win a match against next season's likely title rivals, because of the need to emotionally manage the crowd. By the same token, many Liverpool fans have been asked to put themselves in Alexander-Arnold's situation, and think about their own careers. Except, of course a fan obviously isn't going to think like a modern-day player. If they did, the professionals wouldn't earn anywhere near as much as they do, and some of these controversies wouldn't even arise. It is precisely these pure emotions that the business of the sport successfully seeks to capitalise; 'the commodification of feelings' as sports lawyer and former Everton player Gareth Farrelly put it. As befits the weekend, there is curiously some good and bad to this. Or, maybe more relevantly, there are occasionally moments when good seems bad and bad seems good. Emotion and fan irrationality are what drives sport. Capitalising all of that are what erodes it. This is never clearer than in this post-table period, and trying to make sense of a bizarre weekend.
