Mrs Anne Brasseur, European parliamentarian, gave a report on the "good governance in football"produced on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The report, which was presented to the debates on 24 January 2018, mainly denounces the lack of independence of FIFA bodies vis-à-vis screw of its President.
The "preeminent position"of the President of FIFA and the"increased dependence"control bodies
According to Le Monde, who had access to the report, two main lines of thought stand out from the report "BRASSEUR": "the preeminent position of the president"FIFA and the"increased dependence"control bodies.
Madame BRASSEUR writes in her exposed motifs …
"I believe that the pre-eminent position of the President and his hold on the (notably) management issues remain one of the key components of FIFA's governance culture. This has been the case for decades and it would be naïve to believe that this could change because of a new provision proclaiming a different modus operandi".
Mrs BRASSEUR then presses on the fact that "the presidents of FIFA's four main supervisory bodies have been replaced in less than a year"by people who do not necessarily fit the right profile.
Madame BRASSEUR explains that "lhis office as president of the investigative chamber of the ethics commission requires experience in the field of criminal investigations and in particular financial investigations, which Ms Rojas does not have […]. The lack of knowledge of French and English is also a major handicap, explains the rapporteur. […] It is also - and this is much more problematic - of an increased dependence which it has on the secretariat which assists it and of an objective difficulty in entering into confidential contact with witnesses. or experts".
Finally, the report mentions the numerous corruption incidents reported in recent years within FIFA in the awarding of the various World Cups and in particular "concerning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which appears to be tainted by serious irregularities".
4 December 2017, on the basis of the report "BRASSEUR", the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media PACE called the authorities of the European Union, "in consultation with the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, UEFA and the Council of Europe, to promote the establishment of an independent observatory to assess the governance of football organizations, with a focus on Ethics and integrity of electionsThis observatory would then have limited prerogatives and could onlyensure that the principles of good governance are effectively applied and shared"said thePACE.
On 24 January 2018, the Council of Europe notably adopted, by 131 votes (5 against and 10 abstentions), the resolution providing for the establishment of a "independent external body to oversee the governance of Football".
