By Andrew Warshaw
April 21 – Swiss authorities have enacted potentially ground-breaking new rules, dubbed by Swiss media ‘Lex FIFA’ (the FIFA Law), as part of an initiative to crack down on corruption in sport.
With a string of international sporting organisations based in the country and the ongoing FIFA scandal still making headlines, it is hoped that tightening the law will address gaps that previously made it difficult to prosecute private individuals who either offer or accept bribes.
Anti-corruption campaigners have been pushing for Swiss authorities to bring sporting bodies such as FIFA under greater scrutiny and the revised legislation will pave the way for prosecutors to clamp down without having to wait for an official complaint from inside the organisation in question.
Swiss prosecutors are currently investigating whether bribes helped secure World Cup hosting rights granted by FIFA to Russia and Qatar.
“In future, bribes paid outside classic competition situations – for instance in awarding sporting events – will thus be punishable by law,” the justice ministry said in a statement after a cabinet meeting.
Currently, around 65 international sport federations and organisations are based in Switzerland and under the revised legislation, corruption could reportedly be punished by a maximum three-year jail sentence.
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