Brussels, 27/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - MEPs want the election of a new President of the International Football Federation (FIFA), which is expected to take place in less than a month, to mark a turning point. All the participants at the conference organised on Wednesday 27 January, however, regretted that four out of the five candidates in the running had refused their invitation to attend the conference.
Following the resignation of Sepp Blatter, who is under investigation for corruption, there are five candidates to take over from him at FIFA on 26 February: Prince Ali of Jordan, Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, Jérôme Champagne from France, Swiss-Italian Gianni Infantino and the South African, Tokyo Sexwale. In this context, the “sport” intergroup at the European Parliament and the #NewFIFANow campaign group invited the candidates to come and debate their priorities at the European Parliament. Three candidates (Champagne, Sexwale and Ali) were due to attend and a fourth had made a promise to participate through a videoconference (Infantino). Nonetheless, as explained by Marc Tarabella MEP (S&D, Belgium), only Jérôme Champagne had honoured his commitments and all the other candidates cancelled, after Prince Ali of Jordan officially made known that he would not participate in the debate due to an allegation of political interference made by another candidate.
Tarabella responded by saying: “It is ridiculous to assert that an informal debate taking place at the European Parliament, which has no executive power in sport, constitutes political interference in the world of football”. He added that “each candidate from a bona fide organisation governed by democratic principles is likely to undergo an examination”. The debate was chaired by the whistle-blower linked to the FIFA scandal, Bonita Mersiades, in an effort to demonstrate Parliament's “neutrality”.
During the debate, most of the speakers regretted the absence of the 4 out of 5 candidates. Ivo Belet (EPP, Belgium), a member of the #NewFIFANow group, stated: “These absences send out the wrong message to citizens and show that the old FIFA is still alive and kicking”. He also called on the Commissioner for Sport, Tibor Navracsics, to take action in the event of self-regulation not functioning, as well as in the area of transfer fees.
Jérôme Champagne, however, benefited from the absence of his rivals to put forward his programme. He also highlighted the points raised by the conference participants such as, for example, the need for more transparency and improved representation at FIFA. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)
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