ZURICH (Reuters) - Outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter told his scandal-plagued federation's 209 member associations on Thursday that failure to support reform would amount to a betrayal of millions of soccer fans.
Blatter's comments came as FIFA's executive committee began a two-day meeting where it was due to discuss a request to provide greater transparency around investigations into allegations of corruption.
The committee also will be given an update on the second of two reform processes which have begun since FIFA was plunged into the worst crisis in its 111-year history in May.
Soccer's governing body has been in turmoil since 14 sports marketing executives and soccer officials, including several from FIFA, were indicted in the United States on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges.
Seven of those accused were arrested by Swiss police in a dawn raid on a luxury Zurich hotel on May 27, two days before the FIFA Congress where Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term.
As pressure mounted on FIFA, Blatter made a shock announcement in early June that he would step down at an extraordinary Congress which will take place on Feb 26 in Zurich.
Last week, the problems took another twist when FIFA put secretary general Jerome Valcke on leave and requested a formal investigation into allegations against him. His duties have been taken over by his deputy Markus Kattner.
"I expect all member associations to fully support this reform process at the Extraordinary Congress in February," Blatter wrote in his weekly column in FIFA weekly.
"To fail to do so would represent a betrayal of our institution, of football and of the millions of fans around the world that rightly expect the highest standards from those managing the game.
"Our goal must be to give FIFA, the institution, the opportunity to move forward next year and to build on the progress we have achieved in staging competitions and developing football around the world since 1904," he added.
"If we do not act now, we will be putting all of that work at risk."
Domenico Scala, head of FIFA's audit and compliance committee, presented an eight-point plan at the last executive committee meeting in July, which he hoped would be approved and put to the extraordinary Congress in February.
Instead, it was decided to set up a second reform committee under Francois Carrard, a Swiss lawyer and former director general of the International Olympic Committee, which met for the first time earlier this month.
Allegations of corruption are investigated by FIFA's ethics committee, which is only allowed to report its final decisions and cannot name people who are under investigation.
Critics have regularly lambasted the in-house watchdog, and questioned its independence from the FIFA leadership, for refusing to give names and other data, even linked to well-known and widely reported cases.
However, the ethics committee has said it is following the code of ethics, which it has asked to be changed, a request which is expected to be discussed under the item "approval of amendments to the FIFA code of ethics."
Valcke's exit gives Putin's Russia free pass
Soccer fans may know Jerome Valcke as the master of ceremonies at televised FIFA events such as the World Cup draw. But the Frenchman, suspended from his duties as FIFA secretary general last week amid allegations of involvement in schemes to sell tickets above face value at World Cup events, was responsible for its day-to-day business affairs.
Valcke's job, simply put, was to make the trains run on time.
His primary job was to make sure the World Cup -- FIFA's crown jewel and biggest revenue-producer -- ran well. (In that regard, he was always a big and public supporter of the World Cup returning to the USA.) More generally, he also was responsible for keeping the money flowing in. That meant keeping FIFA's sponsors were happy, so he had to spend a lot of time in recent months trying to placate them in the aftermath of the indictment of 14 soccer and sports marketing officials by Federal authorities. (Wonder what the sponsors are thinking now?)
Valcke's role has been that of FIFA's bad cop in contrast to the role of his former boss, Sepp Blatter, as the good cop. Frustrated with the lack of preparedness with the 2014 World Cup, he famously said in 2012 that Brazilian organizers needed a kick up the backside, prompting the Brazilian government to declare him persona non grata and unwelcome to visit Brazil for talks on the tournament until he apologized. Valcke apologized, saying he only meant to say organizers needed to "speed things up" and blaming the translation from French to Portuguese for the miscommunication.
Valcke's suspension last week was met with rejoicing in Brazil. "Now it's the turn of this loudmouth to take a kick up the backside," said Brazilian star-turned-politician Romario. "We put up with his arrogant manner even though I protested on a number of occasions that the government should take a stand and refuse to accept him as go-between."
Valcke's frustration with Brazilian organizers didn't keep him quiet as a year after his kick-up-the-backside remarks he complained that too much democracy was a hindrance when it came to FIFA organizing a World Cup.
"I will say something which is crazy, but less democracy is sometimes better for organizing a World Cup," he said at a World Cup symposium, pointing out that working with a powerful head of state like Russia's Vladimir Putin was a lot easier than in a country where there were multiple levels of government regulation.
Valcke got his wish as the 2018 World Cup is headed to Putin's Russia. He was again master of ceremonies at this summer's World Cup qualifying draw in St. Petersburg and was headed to Moscow for ceremonies marking the 1000th day before the 2018 World Cup starts last Thursday when his plane was ordered back to Zurich in mid-flight. Putin was silent about Valcke's downfall but he was happy to report that there was no need for worry.
''Russia always approaches events like [the World Cup] in a responsible way in terms of hosting and organization," Putin in a video presented at the countdown ceremonies. "The preparations for the World Cup in 11 cities of our country who have the honor to host the championships are in full swing.''
Russia the responsible one? There's lots to be concerned about a Russia World Cup, from cutbacks in facilities and infrastructure due to the country's ongoing economic crisis to the country's horrible record on many social issues.
Timed with the 1000-day countdown, Russian organizers rolled out international ambassadorAlexei Smertin, the former national team captain, who had the gall to suggest, "There's no racism in Russia because it does not exist." (For the record, there have been more than 100 incidents of racist and discriminatory behavior linked to Russian soccer over two seasons.)
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also a member of the FIFA executive committee, praised Valcke as a ''very professional person'' but suggested that his departure was less important since preparations for the World Cup were going along smoothly.
FIFA is indeed a real mess if Putin's Russia is suddenly viewed as the responsible party and if it doesn't need someone like Valcke looking over its shoulder and making sure the trains run on time.
Valcke's exit gives Putin's Russia free pass
Soccer fans may know Jerome Valcke as the master of ceremonies at televised FIFA events such as the World Cup draw. But the Frenchman, suspended from his duties as FIFA secretary general last week amid allegations of involvement in schemes to sell tickets above face value at World Cup events, was responsible for its day-to-day business affairs.
Valcke's job, simply put, was to make the trains run on time.
His primary job was to make sure the World Cup -- FIFA's crown jewel and biggest revenue-producer -- ran well. (In that regard, he was always a big and public supporter of the World Cup returning to the USA.) More generally, he also was responsible for keeping the money flowing in. That meant keeping FIFA's sponsors were happy, so he had to spend a lot of time in recent months trying to placate them in the aftermath of the indictment of 14 soccer and sports marketing officials by Federal authorities. (Wonder what the sponsors are thinking now?)
Valcke's role has been that of FIFA's bad cop in contrast to the role of his former boss, Sepp Blatter, as the good cop. Frustrated with the lack of preparedness with the 2014 World Cup, he famously said in 2012 that Brazilian organizers needed a kick up the backside, prompting the Brazilian government to declare him persona non grata and unwelcome to visit Brazil for talks on the tournament until he apologized. Valcke apologized, saying he only meant to say organizers needed to "speed things up" and blaming the translation from French to Portuguese for the miscommunication.
Valcke's suspension last week was met with rejoicing in Brazil. "Now it's the turn of this loudmouth to take a kick up the backside," said Brazilian star-turned-politician Romario. "We put up with his arrogant manner even though I protested on a number of occasions that the government should take a stand and refuse to accept him as go-between."
Valcke's frustration with Brazilian organizers didn't keep him quiet as a year after his kick-up-the-backside remarks he complained that too much democracy was a hindrance when it came to FIFA organizing a World Cup.
"I will say something which is crazy, but less democracy is sometimes better for organizing a World Cup," he said at a World Cup symposium, pointing out that working with a powerful head of state like Russia's Vladimir Putin was a lot easier than in a country where there were multiple levels of government regulation.
Valcke got his wish as the 2018 World Cup is headed to Putin's Russia. He was again master of ceremonies at this summer's World Cup qualifying draw in St. Petersburg and was headed to Moscow for ceremonies marking the 1000th day before the 2018 World Cup starts last Thursday when his plane was ordered back to Zurich in mid-flight. Putin was silent about Valcke's downfall but he was happy to report that there was no need for worry.
''Russia always approaches events like [the World Cup] in a responsible way in terms of hosting and organization," Putin in a video presented at the countdown ceremonies. "The preparations for the World Cup in 11 cities of our country who have the honor to host the championships are in full swing.''
Russia the responsible one? There's lots to be concerned about a Russia World Cup, from cutbacks in facilities and infrastructure due to the country's ongoing economic crisis to the country's horrible record on many social issues.
Timed with the 1000-day countdown, Russian organizers rolled out international ambassadorAlexei Smertin, the former national team captain, who had the gall to suggest, "There's no racism in Russia because it does not exist." (For the record, there have been more than 100 incidents of racist and discriminatory behavior linked to Russian soccer over two seasons.)
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also a member of the FIFA executive committee, praised Valcke as a ''very professional person'' but suggested that his departure was less important since preparations for the World Cup were going along smoothly.
FIFA is indeed a real mess if Putin's Russia is suddenly viewed as the responsible party and if it doesn't need someone like Valcke looking over its shoulder and making sure the trains run on time.
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