FIFA EXCO Confirms February Election…,

FIFA Executive Committee, FIFA, Zurich, Domenico Scala, Ángel María Villar Llona, FIFA World Cup, Issa Hayatou, FIFA Emergency Committee, Hany Abo Rida, CAF, UEFA,

FIFA Executive Committee confirms February election, approves more transparency for ethics proceedings

At its extraordinary session in Zurich yesterday, the FIFA Executive Committee approved a set of important measures to further strengthen its governance and increase the transparency of Ethics Committee proceedings while reiterating its commitment to necessary reforms already underway. The Executive Committee also confirmed 26 February 2016 as the date for the elective extraordinary congress.

The committee agreed to an important change to the rules governing investigations and decisions made by the independent Ethics Committee. Article 36 of FIFA’s Code of Ethics will be amended to allow the Ethics Committee, at its discretion, to publish more information about its ongoing proceedings. The independent chairmen of the committee’s two chambers, Hans-Joachim Eckert and Cornel Borbély, had strongly advocated such an amendment, which will increase the transparency and understanding of their work.

Domenico Scala, in his capacity as chairman of the FIFA Ad-hoc Electoral Committee, provided information to the Executive Committee regarding the ongoing process for the FIFA presidential election. He explained that candidacies for the FIFA Presidency that are submitted in due time and form, but which relate to candidates who are subject to a (provisional or definite) ban from taking part in any football-related activity, will not be processed by the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee as long as such ban is valid and in force.

The chairman also told the Executive Committee that, should such a ban be lifted or expire before the FIFA presidential election, scheduled for 26 February 2016, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee would decide, depending on the respective exact point in time, on how to proceed with the candidacy concerned. Furthermore, Domenico Scala explained that the Appeal Committee Chairman Larry Mussenden has withdrawn from his position on the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee to avoid any appearance of a potential conflict of interest. Larry Mussenden’s deputy, Fernando Mitjans, will assume the role.

The Executive Committee also welcomed the preliminary recommendations developed by the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee and presented by its chairman, François Carrard, in an interim report. The Reform Committee will submit the final set of reform proposals to the FIFA Executive Committee at its next session in December 2015. The final proposals will be submitted to the FIFA Congress for consideration at the extraordinary congress in February 2016.

The Executive Committee stated its commitment to working on a roadmap to rebuild FIFA’s reputation and trust with a key focus on implementing the reforms. “I was pleased to see unity among the Executive Committee members during our discussions of reform and its critical importance to our organisation and world football. Increasing the transparency of ethics investigations is just one example of our firm commitment to change,” said Acting FIFA President Issa Hayatou. “It was also significant that we set the course for the upcoming presidential election.”

Other decisions taken by the Executive Committee included the following:

Ángel María Villar Llona has been appointed as acting chairman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup.

Acting President Issa Hayatou has assumed the position of acting chairman of the FIFA Emergency Committee while Ángel María Villar Llona has been appointed as the UEFA representative and Hany Abo Rida as the CAF representative on the committee.

Due to the frequency and the high volume of qualifying matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup (851), the committee agreed to establish a specific bureau and an emergency bureau for the preliminary competition. The bureaus will be chaired by Sheik Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

The Executive Committee ratified the decision of the FIFA Emergency Committee to set up a normalisation committee for the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) with functions which will include revising the FAT electoral code and conducting the election of a new FAT executive committee by 15 February 2016 at the latest.

The next meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee will be on 2/3 December in Zurich.

FIFA

FIFA Executive Vows To Improve Governance And Boost Female Participation In Football

At a two-day meeting in Zurich this week, the FIFA Executive Committee deliberated on a number of forward-looking measures to improve governance as part of the reform process and to promote greater participation of women in football.

In regard to the proposed amendments to article 36 of the FIFA Code of Ethics to allow the independent Ethics Committee to publish more information about its proceedings, the Executive Committee declared its support in principle and asked the FIFA Legal Committee for a final deliberation ahead of the next Executive Committee meeting. The independent chairmen of the committee’s two chambers, Hans-Joachim Eckert and Cornel Borbély, had advocated this change in the interest of transparency and understanding of their work.

The executive also supported the call made by the FIFA Task Force for Women’s Football for greater inclusion and participation of women in football, which will be referred to the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee for consideration in the development of the final reform proposals. The committee also agreed to the amended regulations to ensure more female members of team delegations at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2016 in Papua New Guinea. This follows on from a similar change to the regulations for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which were approved last March. Sonia Bien-Aimé has also been appointed as the new chairwoman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The chairman of the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee, François Carrard, briefed the members on his committee’s work and said that he would submit a set of recommended reform proposals to the Executive Committee at its December meeting. The Executive Committee welcomed François Carrard’s report and reconfirmed its commitment to reforms.

It was also re-confirmed during the meeting that there would be no obligation for clubs to release players for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016, given that the event is not part of the international match calendar. However, FIFA is asking for support from the clubs to allow players who are called up by their national teams to be given the chance to be part of the Olympic experience.

Given the current refugee crisis, the Executive Committee decided to donate USD 1 million to the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR). It was decided that this would be the most efficient way for FIFA to help refugees.

Other decisions taken by the Executive Committee included the following:

Approval of the agenda for the Extraordinary FIFA Congress that will take place in Zurich on 26 February 2016 in order to appoint a new FIFA President. The agenda will include a package of reforms and amendments to the FIFA Statutes.

The next Executive Committee meeting, the last of 2015, will take place in Zurich in December with the date yet to be confirmed.

Approval of the international match calendar for the 2018-2024 period, including the competition dates for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ to be staged from 21 November to 18 December 2022.

Constant Omari has been appointed as the new chairman of the Task Force Against Racism and Discrimination.

The Oceanian Football Confederation (OFC) will receive an additional slot (in total two) for the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups as of 2017. UEFA will have 5 instead of 6 slots.

Futsal will replace football at the Youth Olympic Football Tournaments Buenos Aires 2018.

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has to revise its statutes and hold new elections within two years. FIFA will also act on the recent appointment of a court administrator to the PFF, which is considered as interference. The PFF must report to the FIFA Associations Committee every six months on the progress of this revision process.

To address the situation at the Benin Football Association, it was decided to appoint a normalisation committee in accordance with art. 7 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes with a mandate until April 2016. The tasks of the committee will be to normalise the situation of the national teams and to organise elections which will be open to all candidatures, including from the members of the outgoing FBF executive committee.

Kohzo Tashima will lead a joint FIFA/AFC delegation, composed of H.R.H. Prince Abdullah (FIFA) and Mariano Araneta (AFC), to Jakarta to assist the Football Association of Indonesia in its negotiations with stakeholders and to identify solutions for Indonesian football to ensure that the suspension can be lifted as soon as possible.

To contact the Kuwait Football Association about the new sport law and warn about a suspension if nothing is done by 15 October 2015 to avoid the implementation of the new law due to come into force on 27 October 2015.

To extend the mandate of the normalisation committees of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), and the Togolese Football Association (FTF) until 30 November 2015, 30 October 2015 and 31 December 2015, respectively.