Monday signals not only the real start of the race for the FIFA presidency, but also a significant day for the man in charge of reforming world football’s governing body.
The Emergency Executive Committee meeting in Zurich will be the first time that Domenico Scala will present his plans for reform to the members of the ExCo.
There have already been changes announced for the process by which the next World Cup hosts will be decided.
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But these reforms discussed on Monday will focus on the very heart of the problems that have hit FIFA so hard over the last couple of months – the ExCo itself.
Key players
They are the most important individuals in world football – not chosen by the president – but elected by the regional confederations as their representatives.
The widely held view is that the single most pressing issue is the one of term limits for the ExCo members.
It was something that was on the FIFA Congress agenda in Mauritius in 2013, only to be thrown out before going to vote.
Not surprisingly, at an organization known for its old boys in blazers brigade, there’s been some powerful opposition to their introduction in the past.
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The president Sepp Blatter was re-elected for his fifth term in June; Spanish FIFA vice president Angel Maria Villar Llona has been an ExCo member since 1998 and has said he has no intention of standing down.
Term limits
The feeling is, if you have term limits, you renew the key figures in an organization regularly, and if you have a wrongdoer amongst them, they have to go eventually.
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My understanding is that in his power point presentation, Scala will propose to the ExCo to bring in eligibility criteria for members – one of which states that individuals are not allowed to be ExCo members unless their national association or confederation has limits on terms of office.
The confederation that has faced the majority of the scandal in recent weeks – CONCACAF – has just passed a motion to introduce them – but there are still more associations without an agreement on term limits than those with one.
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In terms of other reform proposals, there’s a feeling that a reduction in the size of the ExCo would be of benefit to about half its current size.
Increased transparency
Instead of the confederations appointing the ExCo members, there will be a proposal that all 209 member associations of the FIFA Congress should vote. And to help increase transparency, there should be a full salary disclosure of ExCo members, including the president.
Scala has made a point of not discussing his plans with Blatter or other Exco members ahead of Monday’s meeting.
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The man appointed as chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee was given the backing of outgoing president Blatter just moments after his dramatic resignation on June 2nd.
Blatter won’t necessarily agree with all of the changes himself – he’s openly said he wants to increase the size of the Exco for example – but the wily Swiss is determined to have pushed through a number of reforms before he walks out of the doors at FIFA house for the final time after the upcoming election.
Key player
He’ll undoubtedly be a key player in convincing the ExCo members to make the changes.
Blatter’s shown in the past that he’s a master of building a majority – something he’ll need to rely on to see the reforms come into play. ExCo is by no means a united body.
There are members of the old guard who remain – eight of those who were involved in the vote in 2010 are still in place today.
There are those for whom Monday will be their first ExCo meeting – being appointed after that explosive few days at the end of May. Views range from those who still defiantly believe there’s not need to reform FIFA – who think they just need a new president as a new face of the organization; to those who believe they should accept everything that Scala suggests in an attempt to regain credibility.
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And the events of the last few months mean no one knows who they should be allying themselves to next – who’ll be the next person with that knock on the door from the federal officials.
Scala has no power to introduce these changes on his own. This is just the start of a process that will ultimately need to be voted on by Congress – but one that needs to take place whoever is named the new FIFA president.
