Executive
Committee sets presidential election for 26 February 2016 and fully supports
roadmap for reform
Chaired by FIFA
President Blatter, the Executive Committee today pushed for a range of
important reforms to be submitted for decision to the upcoming extraordinary
Congress, underlining FIFA’s commitment to better governance and greater
accountability. They also decided that this Congress will take place in Zurich
on 26 February 2016, when a new FIFA President will be elected.
The reform topics proposed
include enhanced centralized integrity checks for Executive Committee members,
the introduction of term limits, higher standards of governance at all levels
of football structures including confederations and member associations, as
well as individual disclosure of compensation.
The members welcomed the
presentation on reforms delivered by Domenico Scala, independent chairman of
the Audit and Compliance Committee. The Executive Committee, supported by the
confederations, reiterated its unity and stated its firm commitment to reforms.
The executive also stressed its full cooperation with the on-going US and Swiss
investigations.
To further strengthen this
reform process, it was decided to set up a specific FIFA Task Force 'Reforms'
to be chaired by a neutral chairman who should be appointed in consultation
with the confederations’ presidents. This Task Force will be composed of two
representatives of each of the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF and UEFA, as well as of one
representative from each of CONMEBOL and the OFC. Concrete and comprehensive
reform proposals should be elaborated for presentation at the next ordinary
FIFA Executive Committee meeting, scheduled to be held in Zurich on 24 and 25
September 2015, and thereafter submitted for approval at the extraordinary
Congress.
One major change had already
been agreed by the Executive Committee at the last ordinary meeting on 25 May
2015, with the revised bidding regulations for future FIFA World Cups™. As a
result, future bids will have to meet a number of important additional
criteria. In particular, FIFA will recognise the provisions of the UN Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights and will make it compulsory for both
contractual partners and those within the supply chain to comply with these
provisions. Furthermore, the bidding documents were also elaborated using
guidance of the United Nations’ strategy for “Safeguarding against Corruption
in Major Public Events”.
Furthermore, during the meeting,
the Executive Committee decided to call for elections and initiated the
electoral period with the formal installation of the Ad-hoc Electoral
Committee. In accordance with the Electoral Regulations, the committee will
consist of the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee (Claudio Sulser),
the chairman of the FIFA Appeal Committee (Larry Mussenden) and the chairman of
the FIFA Audit and Compliance Committee (Domenico Scala). This committee will
convene for its first meeting on Tuesday, 21 July, to agree on its chairman
amongst other matters. As such, as of today candidates can now declare their
interest in running for the office of FIFA President.
Given that the extraordinary
elective Congress will take place on 26 February 2016, the deadline for
submission of candidates for the office of FIFA President must take place in
writing, together with the declarations of support of at least five members
(cf. art. 24 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes), by 26 October 2015 at the latest.
For further details on the election process, please refer to the FAQ document
on FIFA.com. Furthermore, Djimrabaye Bourngar from Chad has been appointed as
the deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee
until the 66th FIFA Congress in 2016.
Finally,
the Executive Committee wished to stress that for the current FIFA activities
such as the preparations for the upcoming events, it is important that all
operational activities continue to be carried out as planned in order to
protect the stability and the future of the organisation. 
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