By Paul Nicholson
July 7 – CONCACAF has published a ‘Reform Framework’ as the confederation covering North and Central America and the Caribbean seeks for the second time in four years to put in a place a robust governance and management structure that will take football in the region forward.
In May the arrests of president Jeffrey Webb and Costa Rican president and executive committee member Eduardo Li in Zurich, and the subsequent accusations of bribery around the award of key marketing contracts for the confederation’s events, left the football world in shock and the regional governing body in disarray.
Up to that point CONCACAF was being held up as a model of progressive thinking and leadership as it shook off the dark shadow of the years of leadership and criminality by American Chuck Blazer and former president Jack Warner from Trinidad and Tobago.
The arrests in Zurich on behalf of the US Department of Justice, and the subsequent publication of the charges in the indictment, in a co-ordinated stroke derailed CONCACAF (both the good and the bad parts), whether Webb and Li are ultimately extradited to face the US justice system or not.
The first step for the confederation was to bring management stability and elect an interim president. Honduras’s Alfredo Hawit took on the role – for the second time, he fulfilled the interim position in 2011 as well – while a Special Committee of Justino Compean (Mexico), Sunil Gulati (US) and Victor Montagliani (Canada) was formed to manage the daily business and prepare for the future.
The Reform Framework was developed at the request of the executive committee and approved by it last weekend at a meeting in Canada. Its implementation will begin immediately.
A CONCACAF statement said: “This Reform Framework reflects CONCACAF’s commitment to strengthening our governance, management, and operations. These reforms are intended to apply best practices for sound corporate governance to CONCACAF’s business operations. In implementing the Reform Framework, the Confederation will demonstrate to its fans, sponsors, member associations and other stakeholders that CONCACAF is resilient and devoted to managing, developing, and promoting the game with accountability and transparency.”
At the centre of the reform work is US law firm Sidley Austin (who were part of the previous reform) and management consultants Alvarez & Marsal (a new appointment). They will implement a new set of operational procedures as well as draw up a series of recommendations for CONCACAF’s statutes to implement the reform.
At the same time an investigation is taking place into all of CONCACAF’s operations. It is understood that there have been further suspension of staff members (general secretary Enrique Sanz was put on leave at the end of May) but no details have been released.
Highlights of the new corporate governance procedure will include independent board members on the executive committee, term limits for all members (including the President), approval of executive committee compensation by Congress, and changes to the composition of the executive committee to “ensure greater representation and prevent entrenchment”.
When it comes to fraud prevention a series of more immediate measure are being put in place including a “pre-approved” vendor system for all contracts, including credit and background checks; outside consultant(s) to manage bid processes, audit counterparties for bribery and fraud; restrictions on transactions with immediate family members, and formal processes for disclosure and recusals for Executive Committee members for conflicts of interest; hiring of a chief compliance officer; and the introduction of a whistleblower hotline (the confederation already has one to report match-fixing).
The reform process is currently dominated by North American and US representation in particular. Apart from Honduras’ Hawit as interim president, there appears to be no significant input from either the central American region or the Caribbean. While this is being viewed in many quarters as part of the general ‘governance and clean-up powerplay’ thoughout the whole of world football that is being conducted by US state authorities, it also has more to do with the fact that the finance to run the confederation – with marketing agency Traffic and sponsorship money currently held back – is coming from the three larger and wealthier North American federations.
News of a sell-out crowd for the opening of the Gold Cup tournament tonight will be welcomed as the confederation reboots itself and its operations.
There is some irony in that the 2013 Gold Cup was celebrated as a new beginning for CONCACAF after two years of repositioning and the launch of various initiatives after the departures of Warner and Blazer.
The 2015 version is more circumspect in this respect, but it is also in the earlier stages of reform. It is a brave new world, again, for CONCACAF, but this time round it has considerably stronger commercial foundations to build on and a clearer idea of where it will develop the game. But perhaps the biggest challenge is whether it will be able to retain an inclusive international outlook internally based on real transparency and equality in the reform process.
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