MP blasts world cup sponsors’ ‘silence’ over FIFA corruption scandal

Speaking at an All Party Parliamentary Group meeting on anti-corruption the Amber Valley MP also said he was unsure as to how or if the next FIFA president would be able to restore the reputation of the organisation.        

The meeting, entitled The FIFA corruption story: What happened, and where next for world football?, sought the views of a panel of corruption experts on the latest allegations levelled against FIFA, the lack of reform from within the organisation, wider problems with corruption in sport and the Government anti-corruption summit, due to be held at the end of May.

Giving his take on the issue, the Government's anti-corruption champion, Sir Eric Pickles said the Government was yet to decide on how it could ensure organisations adhered to the laws of decency and honesty, especially given the unique autonomy the sport sector enjoyed.

Sporting bodies played various roles with member organisations as well as allocating events, deciding who took part and controlling very large budgets, he explained.

The Tory MP also urged FIFA to behave like an international company and publish their accounts and questioned why organisations that did not want to disclose their inner workings were always based in Switzerland or the British Virgin Islands.

Pickles added, however, that there was no evidence that FIFA money used in bribes had travelled through British financial institutions and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and National Crime Agency (NCA) would investigate if so.

He suggested that the current problem was that the types of bribes alleged were not covered by money laundering or bribery legislation and international corruption law did not address the current swathe of problems.

There was an urgent need, he concluded, to "clean individual federations" and assured the gathering that corruption in sport would be on the agenda at the Government's anti-corruption summit, to be held to coincide with the FIFA summit.