FIFA president Gianni Infantino accused of interference in Vitaly Mutko block
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| Fifa President, Gianni Infantino |
FIFA president Gianni Infantino
attempted to block a decision to stop Russian deputy prime minister Vitaly
Mutko from keeping his FIFA council seat, MPs have been told.
Miguel Maduro gave a devastating
indictment of the world football governing body chief's commitment to reform,
when speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee on Wednesday,
and said only "external pressure" will force the organisation to
change.
Appointed as chairman of FIFA's
governance committee in May 2016, the Portuguese academic was replaced, without
warning, 11 months later after falling out with Infantino over several
"sensitive" decisions.
Foremost among those was Maduro's
refusal to allow Russian deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko to stand for a seat
on FIFA's council because it was a clear breach of the rules against
governmental interference in football.
Responsible for approving
candidates, Maduro had expected Infantino's support, particularly as the
newly-elected president had approached him to help restore FIFA's reputation
following the scandals of the Sepp Blatter era.
Maduro told the MPs, however, that
when he raised objections to Mutko's candidacy, Infantino made his opposition
"very clear".
According to Maduro, Infantino said
blocking Mutko would have a negative impact on the 2018 World Cup in Russia and
he believed there was "no evidence" the former Russian sports
minister had been involved in the state-sponsored doping programme revealed by
a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation last year.
Maduro claims he was told to find a solution to make Mutko
eligible for FIFA's council 'otherwise the World Cup would be a disaster'
For Maduro, the latter was an issue
for others to decide - he was blocking Mutko for the simple reason that having
a deputy prime minister on the council made a mockery of FIFA's actions against
some associations for political interference.
Infantino's position on Mutko became
even clearer when secretary general Fatma Samoura was sent to meet Maduro.
"The secretary general made it
clear to me that it was extremely problematic, more than that... She said we
needed to find a solution to declare Mr Mutko eligible because otherwise the
World Cup would be a disaster and the continued presidency of Mr Infantino
would also be in question," Maduro said.
Maduro stood firm despite Infantino
"expressing his great concern" and accusing him of trying to impose
rules "retrospectively". In response, Maduro said he was simply
implementing rules that had previously been ignored.
Maduro described Infantino as a man
who he believes started with the intention of tackling an "embedded
culture" that is "extremely resistant to independent scrutiny"
but who has chosen "to survive politically".
The former Portuguese minister for
regional development said this "systemic culture" comes "from
the ground up" and there are associations and confederations that do not
understand what good governance looks like or why it is even desirable.
FIFA is a system of rules without
the rule of law.
Miguel Maduro, ousted FIFA governance expert
"FIFA is a system of rules
without the rule of law," he explained.
Over more than an hour, Maduro
detailed various issues, including how the Asian Football Confederation refused
to act on his recommendations to increase female representation and the African
Football Confederation ignored his request to give a candidate a fair chance in
a FIFA council election.
But the session opened with a
perfect example of what he said was "wrong with FIFA's governance".
When Maduro was sacked earlier this
year, the heads of the ethics investigatory and judicial committees were also
removed - an act that has been widely seen as revenge for them doing their jobs
too diligently.
DCMS committee chairman Damian
Collins had hoped to question the former investigations chief Cornel Borbely as
well, and was asked by Borbely to write to Infantino for permission.
That permission was denied and, in a
letter from Samoura, Collins was told Borbely could face criminal action if he
spoke to the committee.
Maduro, on the other hand, said he
was more than happy to take advantage of parliamentary privilege, which
provides protection from legal action in British courts, to speak freely about
FIFA, as there was an obvious "public interest" defence.
He also pointed out that Infantino
should have passed on Collins' request to the independent ethics committee and
not his right-hand woman.
FIFA claimed it was 'factually incorrect' for exchanges
between administration and its committees to be portrayed as 'undue influence'
In response to Maduro's claims, FIFA
said it had noted his "comments, interpretations and opinions" and
"has never put the competencies of previous committee members into
question and has always respected their decisions".
FIFA's statement added: "For
Miguel Maduro to be in regular contact with the FIFA administration, sometimes
under his own initiative and in order to seek advice, was normal in the course
of his work.
"Exchange between the
administration and FIFA's committees, which in the end all defend FIFA's
interests, are logical and even desirable, so for these exchanges to be
portrayed as undue influence is factually incorrect.
"Today, the people in charge of
FIFA's different committees bear even more of a responsibility to bring about
reform than those who preceded them.
"The independence of FIFA's committees and
the success of FIFA's reform process will only be measured by the decisions
taken in the future and not by personal opinions.Source: Sky Sports
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