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Resolution 2053 (2015)
The reform of football governance
1. The Parliamentary Assembly recognises
the educational and social value of sport. It considers good governance
of sports organisations essential in order to promote the values
of our democratic societies, and attaches the highest importance
to the responsibility which sports organisations bear – and must
fully assume – for furthering and safeguarding human rights and
the rule of law. All sports organisations must give proper consideration
to ensuring effective protection of the fundamental rights enshrined
in international binding instruments and, in Europe, in the European
Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5).
2. The Assembly welcomes the fact that sport is an important
economic activity and that the major sports organisations are able
to support the development of sport in every part of the world.
It is nevertheless concerned that secrecy in the decision-making
processes of certain sports organisations and flaws in their mechanisms
for preventing and sanctioning breaches of sports ethics may foster
corruption and financial misappropriations. The scandals which tarnish
the image of sport confirm that this risk is quite real.
3. The Assembly reaffirms that the need to preserve the independence
of sports movements is attended by the constraint of ensuring that
this independence does not become a front for justifying inaction
against malpractices that flout sports ethics and dealings that
come, or should come, under criminal law when business organisations
are concerned.
4. It is necessary to combat corruption not only in the field
of sports, but also within sports organisations. The latter must
be committed to developing a culture of transparency and to establishing
internal self-regulatory procedures which ensure irreproachable
management of their financial resources, stringent controls to prevent any
illegal holding of personal interest and effective investigation
and detection mechanisms allowing any breach of sports ethics to
be sanctioned.
5. Football holds a special place in the world of sport: for
its universal coverage; for its impact on untold millions of supporters;
for the financial and political implications of its major events
such as the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
World Cup or the European Football Championship of the Union of
European Football Associations (UEFA EURO). For this reason, the
Assembly considers that, along with the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), FIFA and UEFA bear the greatest responsibility and duty to
be exemplary in their external action and in their systems of internal
governance.
6. The IOC has shown that it is possible to make reforms and
to bring about far-reaching changes. The UEFA has a legal framework
at the leading edge in the field of preventing conflicts of interest
and fighting corruption. It is exemplary in the promotion of financial
fair play and in its stand against match-fixing. The Assembly commends,
in particular, the support which UEFA gives to the process of ratifying
and implementing the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation
of Sports Competitions (CETS No. 215).
7. Likewise, the Assembly welcomes the genuine initiatives of
FIFA against the manipulation of matches and its action to aid the
development of football in all regions of the world. The Assembly
also notes that the reforms carried out so far by FIFA have considerably
improved its statutory and regulatory framework.
8. Nevertheless, FIFA does not yet seem capable of putting an
end to corruption scandals. The findings of the inquiry conducted
by the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee concerning
the award of the World Cup to Russia for 2018 and to Qatar for 2022,
even though they have been disclosed only partially, show that extremely
dubious practices are widespread, as if they formed an integral
part of the system.
9. The Assembly notes that FIFA, following this inquiry, has
decided to bring a complaint before the Swiss courts. The Assembly
regrets, however, that FIFA’s internal provisions prevent the publication
of the investigatory chamber’s report and is amazed at the ease
with which the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee
has confirmed the decision to assign the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
10. The Assembly feels that this decision was radically flawed.
The documents divulged in the Sunday Times –
whose authenticity seems unarguable – compel the conclusion beyond
all reasonable doubt that Mr bin Hammam paid over 30 senior representatives
of the African football community (nearly all of them presidents
of national football associations) and/or their national associations
large sums of money to assure Qatar of the votes of the representatives
of the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) on the FIFA Executive
Committee at the vote on 2 December 2010.
11. The votes of these members of the FIFA Executive Committee
were of strategic importance for Qatar to be able to get ahead of
the other bidding countries belonging to the Asian Football Confederation
(AFC), namely Australia, Japan and South Korea. After their elimination,
Mr bin Hammam, who was AFC President at the time, was sure of the
votes for Qatar of the AFC representatives on the FIFA Executive
Committee.
12. In these circumstances, FIFA cannot evade the obligation to
hold a new vote under its new rules on the allocation of major events,
including the World Cup. The claim that Qatar does not have direct
responsibility for Mr bin Hammam’s dealings should not be allowed
to validate a procedure so fundamentally undermined by illegality.
13. Consequently, the Assembly recommends that FIFA:
13.1. speedily open a new procedure
for the award of the 2022 World Cup and ensure – by means including
the immediate adoption of new provisions – the establishment of
adequate information and supervision mechanisms that genuinely guarantee
equality between bidding countries and a final decision strictly
founded on the merit of their projects;
13.2. urgently requests the authorities of Qatar to:
13.2.1. take without delay all necessary measures to secure respect
for the fundamental rights of all foreign migrant workers employed
in their country;
13.2.2. co-operate with the International Labour Organization
(ILO) in verifying the effective observance of these rights by both
public and private enterprises operating in Qatar;
13.2.3. act with the utmost firmness to punish all abuses by companies
or individuals and assure all victims of just redress for harm suffered;
13.3. carry on the reforms which it has commenced and follow
the specific recommendations adopted by the Committee on Culture,
Science, Education and Media on 27 January 2015 (see Appendix 1
to the report entitled “The reform of football governance”, Doc. 13738).
14. The Assembly recommends that UEFA:
14.1. support – directly and through the agency of its representatives
on the FIFA Executive Committee – governance reforms within FIFA,
and in particular all the recommendations made to FIFA in this resolution;
14.2. follow the specific recommendations adopted by the Committee
on Culture, Science, Education and Media on 27 January 2015 (see
Appendix 2 to the report entitled “The reform of football governance”, Doc. 13738).
15. The Assembly appeals to all international sports organisations,
and in particular the IOC, FIFA and UEFA, to:
15.1. ensure that any country bidding
for the organisation of major sports events undertakes, in all activities
linked to the organisation and conduct of the event, to abide by
international standards in respect of fundamental rights, including
the standards of the ILO;
15.2. strengthen co-operation with the relevant intergovernmental
organisations to promote human rights through sport and foster their
effective protection, in particular through their development programmes.
16. Also referring to its Resolution
1875 (2012) on good governance and ethics in sport and
to the guidelines which it contains, the Assembly invites all sports
organisations to make constant efforts to improve their governance.
In this respect, the Assembly stresses the need to ensure:
16.1. transparency of the decision-making
process;
16.2. strict adherence to rules forbidding any improper inducements
to gain advantage in the award of major events or when deciding
financial disbursements;
16.3. financial transparency, including of the salaries and
indemnities drawn by the elected executives and senior management;
16.4. the introduction of procedures for verifying integrity
and of effective mechanisms to prevent, detect and punish all acts
of corruption and financial misappropriation;
16.5. a periodic renewal in the discharge of the offices of
president of the organisation and membership of a governing body
or of a judicial body of the organisation;
16.6. adequate participation of relevant stakeholders in the
decision-making process;
16.7. fair representation of women in the governing bodies.
17. Lastly, the Assembly asks the Council of Europe member States
to establish a legal framework encouraging sports organisations
under their jurisdiction to combat corruption and illegal holding
of personal interest, including the adoption of legislative provisions
to ensure that:
17.1. sports organisations
called on to manage significant sums of money are subjected to transparent accounting
and budgetary rules applicable to commercial companies, even if
sports organisations are constituted as non-profit concerns;
17.2. acts of private corruption committed in the performance
of functions in sports organisations are classified as offences
under criminal law and as such are subject to mandatory prosecution.