One really has to wonder if FIFA wants to reform itself or if it has fed at the trough of unlimited power, illegitimate money, and zero meaningful oversight for so long that it cannot stop even if it wanted to. Over the weekend, the world’s largest sporting organization seemed to reach a new crisis point, as its new president, Gianni Infantino, was given the sort of dictatorial powers by the FIFA Congress which his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, never possessed.
In a 186-1 vote, the FIFA Congress gave Infantino the right to sack any member—including the organization’s chairman of its audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala—as well as the committee’s investigators. Reacting to the obvious power grab, Scala resigned Saturday. He said in a statement, “With this decision, it will henceforth be possible for the council to impede investigations against single members at any time by dismissing the responsible committee members or by keeping them acquiescent through the threat of a dismissal. I am consternated about this decision, because it undermines a central pillar of the good governance of FIFA and it destroys a substantial achievement of the reforms.”
