By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – Will they be replaced or given another mandate? Amid growing speculation that FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and chief investigator Cornel Borbely may not have their positions renewed at the upcoming FIFA Congress, confirmation has been made that the entire future of FIFA’s judicial bodies is up for discussion by the ruling Council that precedes the full session in Bahrain.
Last year FIFA president Gianni Infantino caused huge controversy by somehow smuggling into Congress a motion that permitted Council members to hire and fire the judicial panels, which include the ethics committee.
FIFA have now confirmed with the publication of the Council agenda that “election or dismissal of members of the judicial bodies, the Audit and Compliance Committee, and the Governance Committee” will form part of the discussions in Bahrain, with whatever is decided almost certainly rubber-stamped 48 hours later by the full membership.
In a packed Council agenda, FIFA have also inserted an item, Future structure of the “Local Organising Committees” for the organisation of World Cups .
This relates to getting rid of local organising committees from 2026 onwards and FIFA taking full control in-house, though quite how that will be possible with an expanded tournament of 48 teams is unclear.
Last week, FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura was quoted as admitting the new process would be “difficult and costly” but was necessary to improve “control and effectiveness” but would not affect the next two World Cups in Russia and Qatar.
Intriguingly the Bahrain Council agenda also leaves the door open for China to stage the 2030 World Cup which has long been mooted even though a South American joint bid from Uruguay and Argentina is more likely to mark the tournament’s centenary.
Under current rules, the finals cannot be awarded to confederations that have hosted the two previous editions but it is now proposed that this be discontinued “if circumstances require.”
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