Governance Expert Charged with Bringing FIFA "Up to Speed"

(ATR) FIFA-appointed governance expert Mark Pieth tells Around the Rings the main challenge he faces is to get world football's governing body "up to speed" and tackle the "measure of distrust" now surrounding the organization amid allegations of corruption.

Speaking in an interview after the presentation of his first report as head of FIFA’s Independent Governance Committee, Pieth said Tuesday his role is that of a team coach.

"The feeling is like being a coach who inherits a team that has some troubles. The challenge is to get them up to speed. They have problems with the governance and a big measure of distrust. They need a way out of it," he told ATR.

Pieth was recently appointed at the helm of a new "solution committee" as FIFA and its head, Sepp Blatter, vow to eradicate corruption and restore trust in both the organization and Blatter’s mandate.

A Swiss professor who was tapped by the United Nations in 2004 to examine alleged corruption in the Iraqi oil-for-food program, Pieth also presented possible measures to increase transparency and prevent conflicts of interest within FIFA. The suggestions include carrying out "due diligence" procedures on FIFA officials, electing independent members into the decision-making Executive Committee and adding limitations to the mandate of the president and the Ex-Co members.

"The organization has to reorganize itself, that is the challenge. I put forward a project of change, a road map, so to speak, this is something I think I can do," Pieth, who is a professor of criminal law at Basel University and the head of a OECD working group on bribery in international business, told a news conference at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters.

The 39-page"Governing FIFA" report also suggests that the opening of an official probe could be defined as the "threshold of suspicion," which would lead Ex-Co members to be temporarily suspended.

However, Pieth stressed that his Committee’s task is not to investigate past allegations of wrongdoing, but rather to focus on setting up good practices for the future.

"You can either look at the past or the future, I think it’s unsound to do both at the same time," he told reporters. "I am looking into the future," he said, adding that he’s optimistic about the outcome.

Pieth admitted though that some of the proposed measures might meet some resistance.

"We are talking about serious stuff here. Not everyone will like this," he said.

Other members of the new Independent Governance Committee, some expected to come also from outside the game, will be announced after a Dec. 17 meeting in Tokyo, Pieth said.

Three task forces – Revision of Statutes, Transparency & Compliance and Ethics Committee – will support

the Committee with reform proposals and internal revisions.

The Committee is the latest step in an ambitious anti-corruption plan announced last month by Blatter, who claims he will help clean FIFA of corruption by 2013.

Blatter, who opened the news conference on Wednesday and introduced Pieth, said both he and FIFA are committed to bring on the necessary reforms.

"I am happy and proud that you accepted the call, my call and the call of FIFA," Blatter told Pieth.

With reporting from Marta Falconi in Zurich.

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