FIFA presidency candidate Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa wants to split world football’s governing body into two separate entities in a bid to restore its tarnished reputation.
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FIFA’s standing in the game has been hit by allegations of corruption at the highest levels. Last week, long-standing president Sepp Blatter was banned from all football activity for eight years for signing off an allegedly improper payment of two million Swiss francs to UEFA president Michel Platini, who was handed the same punishment. Both men are appealing against the decision.
Sheikh Salman is one of five candidates vying to replace Blatter in February’s election and on Wednesday, the Asian football chief launched his manifesto.
The most eye-catching of his proposals is to split FIFA into two parts – a ‘Football FIFA’ for football governing issues and a ‘Business FIFA’ which deals with funding, commercial and financial matters.
“Only by strictly separating the generation of funds and supervising the flow of all monies spent can we guarantee the rebirth of a new FIFA that is accountable and is a good corporate citizen that deserves everybody’s respect,” Salman said.
“FIFA must be restructured topdown in order to remedy its present ills. Nothing short of a complete organisational overhaul and the introduction of stringent control mechanisms will allow us to re-launch FIFA in its entirety. FIFA today is a genuine Phoenix project: under my leadership, we shall employ all professional means to lift the organisation out of its ashes and guarantee a solid lasting and successful rebirth.”
Salman said external experts would be appointed to head the two branches if he is elected on February 26. The AFC president also reiterated that he does not want to accept a salary if appointed.
He added: “FIFA is not those 40-odd individuals who have been indicted, arrested or already convicted on various charges. FIFA is above all a 400-strong group of employees from 40+ countries who have suffered from the mayhem caused by others only marginally linked to the organisation.
“The times where lonely decisions were made in an ivory tower are over. My job will be to reunite the employees of all levels, listen to them and learn from their collective and individual experiences. I shall lead by delegation.”
