Overall, I identified 20 recommendations in the IGC report. Of those 20, FIFA failed to even partially implement 9 of them (with 5 implemented and 6 partially implemented). Those 9 unimplemented recommendations are listed below, to aid in discussion and (ideally) debate.
Questions worth thinking about include: Which ones are most important? Which ones are secondary? Which may be off the mark? Comments welcomed either here or via email.
I've blogged on the unimplemented recommendations from the Transparency International report Safe Hands: Building Transparency and Integrity at FIFA and the unimplemented recommendations of Mark Pieth's 2011 paper Governing FIFA. This post completes the series. Next week I will discuss them together.
I've blogged on the unimplemented recommendations from the Transparency International report Safe Hands: Building Transparency and Integrity at FIFA and the unimplemented recommendations of Mark Pieth's 2011 paper Governing FIFA. This post completes the series. Next week I will discuss them together.
Here are the 9 unimplemented recommendations:
1. First and foremost it is fundamental that nominees for senior FIFA positions are vetted by an independent Nominations Committee, to be put in place as soon as possible, in order to ensure that candidates for the next elections fulfill the necessary substantive criteria and ethical requirements and that the selection process is fair and transparent.
2. it is furthermore fundamental that the Chairs of the Nomination Committee and the Audit & Compliance Committee have a seat in the Executive Committee
3. The initial candidates for [The Chairs and Deputy Chairs of the Investigatory Chamber and the Adjudicatory Chamber] should be selected and proposed by the IGC
4. The Secretariat of the Ethics Committee should directly report to the Chairs of the investigatory chamber and the adjudicatory chamber respectively and should be independent from management;
5. "In the area of Compensation & Benefits, the Audit & Compliance Committee should have the following main responsibilities:6. In order to support their supervisory function, the Chairs of the Audit & Compliance Committee and the Nomination Committee should participate in the meetings of the Executive Committee; they should therefore have a seat in the Executive Committee.
- Define the overall Compensation & Benefits strategy of FIFA;
- Decide on the Compensation & Benefits of the President, the Executive Committee Members, the Secretary General and the Independent Members of Standing Committees;
- Transparency: The Compensation & Benefits (including all elements such as regular & variable compensation components, benefits, pension fund contributions, severance/termination regulation and payments) of the above listed positions should be individually and annually reported to the Congress;
- Regulations should be adopted containing the strategy and criteria for Compensation & Benefits;
7. Slightly differing from the suggestions of the Task Forces, the IGC proposes the introduction of the following terms of office:Contrary to the Task Forces, the IGC is not proposing an age limit; the proposed terms of office, the impeachment procedure and the integrity checks should serve the purpose of ensuring efficient corporate bodies.
- President: 2 terms of 4 years
- Executive Committee: 2 terms of 4 years
- Judicial bodies: 1 term of 6 years
- Chairmen of Standing Committees: 1 term of 8 years
- Retroactive effect: The current terms of affected officials should continue; upon expiration of a second 4-‐year term, only 1 additional 4-‐year term can be added;
- In addition, the Statutes should state the “staggered board” principle and should lay the foundation for an impeachment procedure by the Nomination Committee (to be further regulated on policy level) in case an official proves to be unfit for office during his/her term of office.
8. The Statutes should be amended by the responsibility of the Audit & Compliance Committee to establish and monitor a best practice Compliance Program and to oversee the Compliance function.
During 2012, the relating policies and procedures need to be reviewed by the IGC before enactment by the Executive Committee. The policies need to address – inter alia -- the following topics in a consistent (i.e. the same rule for officials and employees) and detailed way:9. In order to ensure the integrity of FIFA’s officials and key employees in line with FIFA’s values and principles, a Nomination Committee should be established. This includes the following primary steps, which should be implemented as soon as possible:
- Conflicts of interest
- Gifts & hospitality
- Confidential reporting mechanism
- Responsibilities and resources
- The Chair and the Deputy Chair of the Nomination Committee should be independent in accordance with the definition to be included in the FIFA Statutes; in addition they should meet the necessary professional requirements applicable to all members of the Nomination Committee as set out in the proposed Organization Regulations;
- The initial candidates for those positions should be selected and proposed by the IGC;
- The candidates should be elected by the competent FIFA body and start their functions as soon as possible;
- The Nomination Committee should be given the competences and resources to discharge its purpose; it should draw up a budget and decide on the support of external advice at its own discretion. It shall also have access to internal investigatory resources of the Ethics Committee;
- The Nomination Committee should have access to complaints and allegations filed under the confidential reporting mechanism and should receive regular updates on information relevant for their remit;
- The remit of the Nomination Committee should include the following:
- Search, selection and proposal of independent members of Standing Committees
- Checks relating to professional criteria on all officials covered by such requirements
- Integrity Checks on key officials and employees of FIFA
- The cornerstones of the Integrity Check should be regulated in the FIFA Statutes:
- Personal scope: Key officials, including President, Executive Committee Members, Committee Members to be elected by Congress, Finance Committee Members, Key employees
- Temporal scope: Retroactive for all current position holders; upon election/re-‐election
- Detailed regulation of content and process of the Integrity Check should be established by the Nomination Committee during 2012 and a corresponding policy should be adopted. The regulation should be reviewed by the IGC before adoption;
- In order to improve transparency and democracy, all open positions covered by the Nomination Committee procedure should be made public and applications can be submitted to the Nomination Committee.
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