Europe's top human rights body has launched an extraordinary attack on FIFA's governance, with Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset publishing an open letter questioning the integrity of the World Cup and urging football's world governing body to build a stronger framework for the 2030 edition.
The letter, released hours before Sunday's World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, New Jersey, cites two specific controversies that have rocked this year's tournament: the controversial lifting of a suspension for United States forward Folarin Balogun and FIFA's sponsorship deal with a prediction market company.
"The next crisis has already begun. It has two names: money and power," Berset wrote in the letter addressed to FIFA, with which the Council of Europe has had a formal working agreement since 2018.
The Balogun case has become a flashpoint for concerns about political interference in football. The United States striker had been handed a mandatory one-game ban, only for FIFA to suspend the sanction mid-tournament after US President Donald Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Balogun was cleared to play Belgium in a quarterfinal that carried World Cup elimination stakes; Belgium won 4-1.
"When the rules bend under pressure, every result is open to doubt," Berset wrote. "Political influence has also moved onto the field. The sanction suspended mid-tournament came after a head of state called the president of FIFA."
FIFA's decision was fiercely criticized by UEFA, European football's governing body, which said it "crossed a red line" in football's rule of law. FIFA has yet to publish the reasoning behind its disciplinary judge's decision.
Berset also took aim at FIFA's commercial relationship with ADI Predictstreet, a prediction market company that signed a reported $150 million sponsorship deal with FIFA in April — just one week after the Abu Dhabi-backed entity was formally created. The Council of Europe chief described prediction betting as "an open door to fraud," noting that it allows wagers to be won on moments a single player can produce without changing the score.
"It is an open door to fraud," he wrote. "And this World Cup has opened the door wider."
The letter arrives as FIFA President Gianni Infantino prepares for a fourth term, having secured endorsements from more than 200 member federations. It also comes against the backdrop of the first 48-team, 104-game World Cup, which Berset said has seen referees' authority questioned and racist abuse of players, some of it from elected officials.
Looking ahead to the 2030 tournament — which will be staged mostly in Spain and Portugal, with Morocco also co-hosting, and three South American nations hosting centenary matches — Berset proposed an immediate working dialogue to build an integrity framework before the tournament is played.
"So here is my proposal to FIFA," Berset wrote. "A working dialogue that starts tonight, to build the integrity framework of the 2030 World Cup before it is played."
The Council of Europe, a 46-nation intergovernmental body that created the European Convention on Human Rights, has a stated mission to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Sources
- https://apnews.com/article/fifa-council-europe-f92fa4a96b248a9062bc73987520391f
