Friday, October 9, 2015
| Enough is enough | ||
Three top FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) officials have been suspended from their jobs yesterday for a period of ninety days pending an internal inquiry into alleged corruption. The three are FIFA President Sepp Blatter, Vice President Michel Platini and Secretary General Jérôme Valcke. They aren’t allowed to participate in football-related activities during their suspensions.
Blatter was going to serve as president until February 2016, although he was elected to a five year term on May 29 this year.
The suspensions have been issued by FIFA’s Independent Ethics Committee, in the wake of the decision of Swiss authorities to investigate possible criminal charges against Blatter. The authorities are looking into an “unfavourable” contract signed by Blatter and a “disloyal payment” involving Platini. Valcke was already suspended from his job, allegedly involved in a controversy about FIFA World Cup tickets. These followed a US investigation in May 2015, which implicated fourteen FIFA employees in bribery and racketeering, and a Swiss inquiry about the conduct of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process.
The ethics committee has the power to increase the length of the suspensions by a further forty five days if it deems this necessary. The suspensions would then end just days before FIFA holds elections for a new president, for which Platini is a possible candidate. However, there have been calls for the reform of FIFA, by major sponsors and the International Olympic Committee, whose president, Thomas Bach, said “enough is enough”.