The FIFA Executive Committee took advantage of the FIFA Club World Cup 2011 currently being played in Japan to stage its last meeting of the year in Tokyo. Chaired by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, the Executive congratulated the hosts, Japan, on their state-of-the-art tournament organisation, particularly bearing in mind the disaster which hit the country in March.
Another important step on the road map for good governance laid down at the last FIFA Executive Committee meeting in October was made today with the presentation of the list of members of the Independent Governance Committee (IGC) to the Executive. The IGC members, who include representatives from the international football community and key personalities from outside football, have been appointed by the chairman of the IGC, international expert Prof. Mark Pieth. The IGC will work closely with the four task forces mandated to propose reforms (Task Force Revision of Statutes, Task Force Ethics Committee, Task Force Transparency & Compliance, Task Force Football 2014). It will report matters and make proposals to the FIFA Executive Committee. Furthermore, a report on the initial work of these task forces was presented.
As announced earlier this month, the dossier on the ISL/ISMM case could not be released today due to legal obstacles (for more information, see the earlier story linked on the right). However, the Executive has confirmed that it will be released later.
Following the latest developments in the FC Sion/Olympique des Alpes SA (OLA) case, and in particular the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport of 15 December 2011, the Executive decided to give a final deadline of 13 January 2012 to the Swiss FA to enforce the registration ban imposed on OLA by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and confirmed by the Swiss Federal Court and to sanction the attitude of the club repeatedly trying to circumvent this decision in a legally abusive manner. As a consequence, all matches in which the relevant players participated shall be declared forfeit or three points shall be deducted respectively. Should this deadline not be respected, the Swiss FA will be automatically suspended from 14 January 2012 onwards.
Regarding the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, the FIFA Secretary General reported on the status of the preparations. Despite positive news about the construction of the stadiums, the complexity of the current situation in Brazil, especially relating to the General FIFA World Cup Bill, which comprises the necessary government guarantees regarding the organisation of the event and which has yet to be enacted by the relevant authorities, was outlined. As a consequence, the matter has now become a personal dossier of the FIFA Presidency.
In order to even better cater for the needs of the member associations of FIFA, especially the least privileged ones, a series of new football development programmes has been approved with a budget of USD 60 million for 2012-2014 (USD 20 million/year) namely:
– member association governance and institutional empowerment
– member association income generation and diversification
– registration system and national competition management system
– development, infrastructure and sport equipment projects
Other items:
– FIFA Club World Cup: Morocco was appointed as host of the 2013 and 2014 editions
– Following a discussion on the global development of women’s football, FIFA Vice-President HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has been invited to make a presentation about the hijab and football at next year’s annual meeting of the International Football Association Board on 3 March 2012 in England
– Football Federation of Kosovo (FKK): the FIFA Executive Committee took note that the request by the FKK to play international friendlies will be dealt with again by the UEFA Executive Committee
The next FIFA Executive Committee meeting will be held in Zurich on 29 and 30 March 2012.
