http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/david...r?newsfeed=true

...(Sylivia) Schenk (Transparency International) explains how an organisation with a genuine will to reform would conduct such a process: "You appoint a body to conduct the investigation, for example a specialist law firm. They would look at the serious allegations and invite people to come forward confidentially with evidence. Then they would review which allegations are serious, and which evidence credible, for full investigation. Now you can say the ISL allegations are serious, as are those about Sepp Blatter's election."

Pieth's own report said the World Cup bidding process is open to "corruption, risk and conflict of interest concerns". Schenk says an investigation ought certainly to include the circumstances of awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively, and, she said, the 2006 event to Germany. "If you do not clear the allegations over such important matters, there can be no credibility for the future and there will be no peace for Fifa."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/17/uk-soccer-fifa-blatter-platini-idUKTRE80G0M320120117

"At some point, you have to stop. I'm trying to reach 2015. I'm coming towards the end of my presidency but I want to install the next governance," he said.

"Of course he will be a good president. He will not be the same president that I am, because everyone is different but he will be a good president."

"Michel Platini is ready, if he wants. He says 'I don't know yet...' but deep inside, he wants it," the 75-year-old Blatter told France Football magazine on Tuesday.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9c39a6e0-42b9-11e1-93ea-00144feab49a.html#axzz1jwTGmopj

By Mark Pieth

I chair the Independent Governance Committee reviewing Fifa reform (though I write here in a personal capacity), which yesterday held its first meeting. The committee is going to make strong and explicit recommendations to Fifa. We are optimistic but not naïve. We expect considerable resistance.

In sports governance more broadly, two areas must be addressed. First, states must adapt their legal structures so that corruption cases can be dealt with effectively. Second, sports governing bodies need to put their own houses in order.

They need to demonstrate true accountability and democracy rather than allow a small group of cronies to hijack the decision centres of organisations. A credible sports organisation also needs a genuinely independent ethics committee that is not afraid to hold the most senior representatives to account.

My involvement in the independent inquiry into the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq showed that looking at the past is possible, but it should under no circumstances stand in the way of rapid reorganisation of the institution. Representatives of a worldwide governing body (even if elected locally) should be subjected to a due diligence test. If credible allegations put officials’ reputation in doubt, their tenure should be on hold until a verdict is reached.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-18...ry-scandal.html

Carlo Sommaruga, a Geneva-based lawmaker and member of the Swiss Socialist Party, scheduled a proposal to make the bribery of individuals a criminal offense, he said today in a telephone interview from Geneva.

In a Dec. 12 session 14 of 25 members of the Swiss legislative commission that votes on law questions supported the Sommaruga’s initiative. To move the proposal forward, the same commission in the upper house of parliament will have to vote on whether the action is needed.

“I took FIFA as an example for my initiative to change the corruption laws after the corruption allegations centered around awarding the World Cup to Russia and Qatar,”

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20120118/hanier-rummenigge-views-on-fifa/

"We work together with our partners and talk to them to behind the curtains, we don't shout (criticism) in public," - Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer

"The image of FIFA is a disaster, it could not be worse," he said. "Every company or club would collapse if they had similar problems. You cannot ignore these issues in today's world. You have to convince the soccer world, and the whole world, that there is a restart. You can call it 'FIFA 2.0' or whatever you like. But you have to show that you are serious." - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Bayern Munich CEO

"I read about various commissions working (toward change) in the newspapers but I'm very curious, to tell you the truth, whether the answers will be convincing. FIFA have to realize that without the clubs, nothing would function." - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

"If you cannot convince the (soccer) family to follow you, you are lost," - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

As Rummenigge was laying out the case against FIFA, however, it became conceivable that the two men were actually engaged in an elaborate "good cop, bad cop" exercise. Hainer was dangling a giant carrot (in the form of Adidas' $175 million sponsorship deal covering the period until the next World Cup in Brazil, 2014) , and Rummenigge, the head of the 200-strong European Club Association (ECA), was waving an imaginary stick.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/fifa-says-no-alcohol-no-deal-on-world-cup-441474.html?tab=Article

“Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, so we're going to have them. Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that's something we won't negotiate,” Jerome Valcke told reporters

Valcke’s comments come just weeks after Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, curbed the sale of alcoholic drinks on its flagship development, the Pearl, in what is seen as a display of tension between Qatar’s Muslim culture and its largely expatriate population.

The sale of alcohol is strictly monitored in five of the Gulf states with Saudi Arabia operating an outright ban on the sale and consumption of liquor.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-restaurants-see-trade-slump-after-alcohol-ban-439431.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-dorsey/qatar-labor-world-cup_b_1212203.html

Qatar, with trade union leaders set for a second round of discussions with world soccer body FIFA about questionable labour conditions in the Gulf state, has vowed to ensure that contractors involved in preparations for the 2022 World Cup will adhere to international labour laws.

The issue of workers' rights touches a raw nerve in countries like Qatar and the UAE where the local population constitutes a minority. Gulf states are concerned that improving labour conditions would not only have economic consequences but also give foreigners a greater stake in a society which ensures they are forced to leave the country once their contract has ended.

Pressure on Qatar from FIFA and the trade unions comes at a time when the Gulf state is enthralled in a debate about its national identity in which conservative and nationalist forces object to concessions being made to foreigners and fans expected to attend the World Cup -- such as allowing the sale of alcohol and pork. Qatar, which permits the serving of alcohol to foreigners in hotels and on board state-owned Qatar Airways, has said it would create free zones during the tournament in which fans would be allowed to consume alcohol.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1012162/cas-to-hear-mohammed-bin-hammam-claims?cc=5901

Bin Hammam, who was banned from football for life by FIFA's ethics committee in July, is claiming he should not be replaced by China's Zhang Jilong as acting AFC president until the organisation's next Congress in May, nor should he have been replaced by Zhang on FIFA's executive committee.

...the court's decision is expected next month.

Bin Hammam is also going to CAS in the spring to challenge his lifetime ban by FIFA.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/...t?newsfeed=true

Blatter confirmed that Warner had been given the TV rights from 1986 to 1998 for a dollar – but blamed the late Mexican Fifa vice-president Guillermo Canedo, a TV tycoon, and said it was nothing to do with him.

"From 1986 and until 1998 he was awarded the television rights for one dollar by Mr Canedo," said Blatter. "Why? Because Mr Canedo wanted to keep the vice-presidency of Fifa and Mr Warner had a majority in Concacaf."

http://www.nst.com.my/sports/soccer/cas-hears-mohamed-s-appeal-1.36693

LAUSANNE: An appeal by former Fifa presidential candidate Mohamed Hammam's to stop the Asian Football Confederation from replacing him as president was heard by sport's highest court on Monday.

CAS arbitrator Denis Oswald, a member of the three-lawyer panel judging the case, said after the court session that both sides made "good arguments."

"We heard different submissions by the parties," said Oswald, "but they will supplement their overall submissions in writing, so we will have to wait a few more weeks until we have everything available."