Prince Ali blasts FIFA over anti-racism task force decision
Monday 26 September 2016 18:58, UK
Former FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali of Jordan says the decision to scrap an anti-racism task force is "incredibly worrying".
World football's governing body acted over the weekend and claimed the committee - set up by Sepp Blatter in 2013 - "had completely fulfilled its temporary mission".
Task force member Osasu Obayiuwana reacted with dismay to the decision, and anti-discrimination group Kick It Out initially said they were "perplexed" before tempering their stance after talks with FIFA.
But the most damning criticism came from Prince Ali, who accused FIFA of playing PR and called for a permanent committee to deal with discrimination.
He said: "The reality as with many programs within FIFA is that the task force was never given real support since its conception and its role was more about FIFA's image than actually tackling the issues. In fact the present task force committee has never even met!
"Now the idea that FIFA believes that it's the right time to disband its anti-racism task force is ridiculous. There is still so much work to do, and FIFA must show leadership, take responsibility for reform and be accountable if change isn't put into practice."
Campaigners Kick It Out released a statement which said: "This comes at a time when there is clear evidence that discrimination, prejudice and hate are on the rise in developed societies, particularly in Europe but also in different forms across the world. Football should seek to lead the way in combating such intrusions.
"This is also ahead of FIFA hosting the 2018 World Cup in Russia, a country which is notorious for racism and abusive activities towards minorities."
But Kick It Out director Roisin Wood later said: "We were perplexed, sought clarification today, spoke to FIFA here and I've been reassured by what I've heard at all levels of the game. A positive note came out of today, we have clearer communication now with FIFA."
FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura, speaking at the Soccerex conference, said: "Fighting discrimination is a long journey. The task force's job was to come up with ideas and we have acted on their recommendations."
And former task force member Piara Power defended the work of the committee while calling for further action.
"In the end I think the task force did some good work," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "There's a global monitoring system, there have been some important rule changes and some other initiatives and communication with football associations around the world which wouldn't have happened otherwise.
"The challenges we have are vast, the way we deal with them will be better in the future, I think."
