Saturday 14 May 2016

FIFA AUDIT CHIEF, DOMENICO SCALA RESIGNS FROM POST IN PROTEST AT REFORMS

Domenico Scala
Domenico Scala Credit: Reuters
Fifa's audit chief has resigned in protest over reforms at the governing body of world football.
Domenico Scala said Fifa's independent watchdog committees had lost their independence.
A resolution passed on Friday by the Fifa council, which replaced the Fifa executive committee in the aftermath of the corruption scandal, means it will have the ability to appoint and sack those in charge of its independent bodies - such as the ethics and audit committees.
Scala said his resignation is a "wake-up call" for people working to reform Fifa.
However, Fifa said the Swiss businessman had "misinterpreted" the decision and the committees would remain independent.
Scala says President Gianni Infantino's move on Friday at Fifa's congress "undermines a central pillar of the good governance of Fifa and it destroys a substantial achievement of the reforms".
Infantino succeeded Sepp Blatter in February and in a speech on Friday, he declared Fifa's corruption-fueled crisis to be over.
The FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Fifa headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Credit: PA
Scala said: "It will henceforth be possible for the Council to impede investigations against single members at any time, by dismissing the responsible Committee members or by keeping them acquiescent through the threat of a dismissal.
"The bodies are factually deprived of their independence and are in danger of becoming auxiliary agents of those whom they should actually supervise."
Fifa said the reform was intended to allow the council to appoint new members while the system of committees was re-structured over the course of the next year.
"Fifa regrets that Mr Scala has misinterpreted the purpose of the decision taken by the Fifa Congress," it said, adding that the ruling would allow "for the swift removal of members who have breached their obligations".
"The council fully respects the independence of the Audit and Compliance and the Ethics committees, and any suggestions to the contrary are without merit," it said, describing Scala's comments as baseless.

No comments:

Post a Comment