SportAccord Chief Blasts FIFA for Tarnishing IFs

(ATR) Gian-Franco Kasper tells Around the Rings that Olympic federations are "suffering" because of FIFA’s corruption scandal.

Speaking exclusively to ATR on Thursday, the interim SportAccord president urged FIFA to clean up its reputation following a string of scandals that have left world football’s governing body in tatters.

"We are suffering under the FIFA situation since quite a long time," said Kasper, who heads the International Ski Federation.

"Everybody says all international federations are corrupt… they mean FIFA."

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is under criminal investigation but is refusing to quit and was back at work this week. He is suspected of signing a TV rights contract "unfavourable to Fifa" and making a "disloyal payment" to UEFA president Michel Platini. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke was suspended on Sept. 18 amid allegations linking him to a World Cup ticketing scam.

Kasper would not be drawn when asked if Blatter should step down amid the current probe. The FIFA leader was interrogated by Swiss authorities last Friday after a meeting of the executive committee.

But he rose to Blatter’s defense.

"I believe he is quite innocent with regards to the accusations he has now," he told ATR.

Kasper suggested the FIFA corruption crisis was about the institution as a whole, which required a major overhaul.

Former IOC director general Francois Carrard is leading the new FIFA Reforms Commission, which also includes Sheikh Ahmad and Kevan Gosper. A FIFA congress scheduled on Feb. 26 is set to elect a new president.

Addressing the UN Assembly last week, IOC president Thomas Bach appeared to allude to FIFA’s turmoil when he spoke about Agenda 2020 reforms.

"If you want to enjoy credibility as an organization, then you have to be accountable, you need to be effective and you need to be inclusive," he said, underlining what had been achieved in the implementation of IOC reforms.

Bach said the IOC had established a system of good governance, which included term and age limits – reforms previously rejected by FIFA members – as well as open and transparent rules for decision making and addressed "a clear zero tolerance policy with regard to any kind of corruption."

Kasper took over SportAccord, the umbrella association for Olympic and non-Olympic federations, on an interim basis in June. His appointment followed the acrimonious exit of Marius Vizer after his outspoken attack on the IOC at the Sochi convention in April.

He told ATR that he had attempted to contact Vizer several times to discuss SportAccord issues but without success.

The ski chief will remain SportAccord president until elections at the annual convention set for Dubai next April.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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