Two-time FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin al Hussein has accused Gianni Infantino of a “complete betrayal” of world football’s member associations for giving the FIFA Council power over key committees.
Prince Ali, of Jordan, was key in turning February’s FIFA election to find a first new president since 1998 and a successor to Sepp Blatter in Infantino’s favour, negotiating for his votes to go to the Swiss.
But the Jordanian FA chief has now questioned the motion which last Friday saw the FIFA Congress hand the ruling Council the power to appoint and dismiss members of the independent judicial committees.
That includes the two chambers of the ethics committee which have respectively investigated and suspended a number of officials in the past year, including Blatter.
Prince Ali said the motion came as a “complete surprise to all” of the member nations and could cause “immeasurable” damage.
“The way the vote was put at the congress, as well as the effect of that vote, was a complete betrayal to all of those who thought they had voted for change, transparency, fair play and reform,” Prince Ali said in a statement.
“It is one of the biggest blows FIFA has received in the last two year... the ramifications of which are massive.
“The damage that can be done to FIFA if the situation remains as it is, is immeasurable. A highly respected man in FIFA, Domenico Scala, has already resigned over this.”
A package of reforms voted on at the extraordinary congress in Zurich on February 26 included a motion to ensure that in future the judicial committees would be completely independent of the Council, in order for them to investigate and punish wrongdoing without fear or favour.
However, last Friday’s decision appears to compromise the committees’ ability to fulfil their duties independently, at least until the 2017 congress in Kuala Lumpur, and it led to Swiss-Italian businessman Scala tendering his resignation.
“The independence of the oversight bodies is essential to be able to co-operate with external law enforcement,” Prince Ali added in his statement.
“That the world body would continue to renege on its promises of good governance sets a poor (example) at best and (is) a total betrayal of the faith that our youth around the world have in the beautiful game.
“Had delegates to the FIFA congress been given time to absorb what had been asked, or truly consider this motion, I very much doubt that anyone would have voted for it.”