Former sports minister Richard Caborn calls for radical FIFA reform
Wednesday 3 June 2015 13:23, UK
Former Sports Minister Richard Caborn has called on FIFA to learn lessons from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and introduce “radical” reforms.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Caborn said that Blatter’s resignation represents a “great opportunity to reform FIFA and put it back where it ought to be.
“They [FIFA] ought to be looking at how the IOC reformed and modernised itself after the debacle of Salk Lake City.”
In 1998, the IOC was rocked by a corruption scandal that involved allegations of bribery used to win the rights to host the 2002 Winter Olympics.
According to Caborn, FIFA must take inspiration from the way in which Jacques Rogge “came in as the new [IOC] President and totally transformed” the organisation, taking it from a very “tarnished five rings to one that is now respected in the world of sport.
“That’s the type of radical overhaul that is needed [at FIFA].”
Caborn, who was also an ambassador for England's 2018 World Cup bid, is also calling for the Garcia report into the 2018 and 2022 bidding process to be published in full.
"I think the content of the Garcia report led to the investigation in the US, and in Switzerland, and that ought to be published," he said.
"You need to get the facts on the table. Michael Garcia [Former FIFA ethics committee chief] spent nearly a couple of years investigating that. He had access to all the files of the bids for 2018 and 2022.
"I don't think there'll be much new in either the Swiss or the American reports that's not in the Garcia report."
Caborn believes a crucial step to reforming FIFA would be to "de-couple governance from the commercial side” of the organisation: “make it run much more like you would a company, with transparency and accountability.”
But Caborn also believes that “Europe has to take responsibility. They keep sucking all the players from around the world, they package them and effectively suck in all the commercial aspects of global football. That is resented by many around the world.
“UEFA have to look at how they can use football in Europe to help and develop football around the world. It needs a cultural shift that acknowledges that there is a rich part of football, and a poorer part of football, and that ought to have some redistribution in it."
