Fifa ‘unfit’ to run football and even worse than Blatter era, says report

Fifa has been accused of remaining unfit to govern world football and in some respects being worse than before the existential crisis that forced it to introduce a raft of governance reforms eight years ago.

A report by human rights and sport advocacy group FairSquare concludes that Fifa’s inherent structural flaws make it resistant to change, giving rise to a wide range of social harms and leaving it in need of external reform.

The 140-page dossier examines Fifa operations both before and after reforms implemented in 2016 after former president Sepp Blatter was ousted and dozens of individuals indicted on corruption charges. 

“Substitute: The case for the external reform of Fifa” states that there has been “little to no improvement since these reforms, and that in some key elements of Fifa’s operations there has been obvious regression”. 

“Fifa is a commercial rights holder, a development organisation, a competition organiser, and a global regulator, all rolled into one big mess,” said Nick McGeehan, co-director of FairSquare and lead author of the report.

“Commercially, it’s a hugely successful organisation, but it has been grossly negligent in addressing the eye-watering list of human rights abuses linked to its operations, and from the perspective of the development of the game, most notably the development of the women’s game, it appears to be irredeemably dysfunctional.”

Central to Fifa’s flawed structure, the report says, is a system of mutually dependent patronage whereby centrally distributed funds are used to buy votes from member organisations.

“Fifa will remain unfit for purpose until this patronage network is broken up, if necessary via an institutional separation of Fifa’s various functions,” it adds.

FairSquare has argued that the European Union could regulate Fifa and other sports governing bodies with a dedicated EU law on sport.

“Football is far too socially, politically and economically important to be governed this poorly,” McGeehan added. 

“Only external regulation will provide the foundations for Fifa to deliver on football’s transformative potential and to prevent the organisation from causing more serious harm.”

FairSquare said it did not receive a response from Fifa after sending its finding to president Gianni Infantino earlier this month.

It comes as Fifa faces legal action from two of its main sponsors, Adidas and Coca-Cola, in the Swiss courts over its controversial plans for an expanded Club World Cup.

Hisense was today announced as the first dedicated commercial partner for the 32-team tournament set to feature Manchester City and Chelsea and be held next summer in the US.

But long-term allies Adidas and Coca-Cola are said to have baulked at suggestions they should pay more on top of their current deals for presence at the Club World Cup and are now seeking to resolve the matter at the Swiss Arbitration Centre, the Guardian reported.  

Fifa has said it plans to reveal more dedicated sponsors for the event “in the coming weeks”. It is understood those will be a mixture of new and existing partners drawn from both Europe and North America.