Outgoing FIFA ethics judge and prosecutor slam governing body over their removals
Tuesday 9 May 2017 22:31, UK
The outgoing FIFA ethics judge and prosecutor removed from their governing body roles say the "political" decision jeopardises "the future of the game".
German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and Swiss prosecutor Cornel Borbely, who were instrumental in investigating and banning football leaders such as Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, failed in a bid to be nominated by FIFA's ruling council for re-election.
Eckert and Borbely have multiple ongoing cases against officials implicated in a widespread US federal investigation of bribery and corruption. Since 2015 they have carried out 194 investigations and sentenced 70 football officials.
The FIFA Council, led by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, is proposing that Eckert and Borbely are replaced by Greek judge Vassilios Skouris and Colombian lawyer Maria Claudia Rojas. FIFA member associations are expected to confirm the two new appointments in a vote on Thursday in Bahrain.
"The impending and clearly politically motivated non-reappointment puts de facto an end to the reform efforts," Eckert and Borbely said in a statement.
"This will inevitably lead to a renewed loss of trust and further hurt the already tarnished image of FIFA. Consequently, the non-reappointment will have a negative impact on FIFA in the medium and long term.
"The successors of both chairmen will have to familiarize themselves with the dossiers and the processes. The non-election will lead to long delays in current investigations and proceedings, and complicate the prosecution of violations of the code of ethics.
"It appears that the heads of FIFA have attached greater weight to their own and political interests, than to the long-term interests of FIFA. They have accepted jeopardizing FIFA's integrity, and, hence, the future of the game."
