Corporate sponsors and FIFA share reform accountability

Jeffrey A. Thinnes (jthinnes@jtiinc.net) is CEO of JTI, Inc. in Great Falls, VA.

“We will restore the image of FIFA and the respect of FIFA…We need to implement good governance and transparency.”[1] Those were the words of Gianni Infantino in February 2016, as he succeeded the beleaguered Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA, the international governing body of football (soccer). Less than two months later, hopes of long-awaited reforms were already dashed.

Still in his infant shoes, Infantino whined about his $2 million salary offer (remember that FIFA is a nonprofit organization). He also insisted on the right to fire nominally independent Ethics Committee members who oversee FIFA officials and who investigate corruption claims. This led to the resignation of Domenico Scala as head of FIFA Compliance. In his resignation statement, Scala said, “It will henceforth be possible to impede [ethics] investigations against a single member at any time, by dismissing the responsible committee members or by keeping them acquiescent through the threat of a dismissal.”[2] So much for restoring the image of FIFA.

Infantino’s disdain for independent ethics and compliance oversight has continued unabated. More recently, he fired three Ethics Committee members, including the chairman, who were raising concerns about corruption — and about Infantino himself. How does he get away with it? Like Blatter before him, he keeps the people around him fat and happy. In addition to jet-setting on lavish expense accounts to exotic places around the world, the 37 members of his executive council receive, on average, $250,000 per year for attending three meetings annually. This is roughly equivalent to what independent board members of S&P 500 companies earn, although FIFA is a fraction of their size.

This document is only available to members. Please log in or become a member.
 


Would you like to read this entire article?

If you already subscribe to this publication, just log in. If not, let us send you an email with a link that will allow you to read the entire article for free. Just complete the following form.

* required field