Sebastian Coe has expressed his disappointment over FIFA’s failure to act upon his anti-corruption World Cup bidding reforms.
During his three years as chairman of the world governing body’s ethics committee, Lord Coe sought to introduce new rules to avoid the kind of allegations that have rocked FIFA in recent weeks.
However, he feels the organisation “took their foot off the pedal” on his proposals when he stood down in 2009 to avoid a conflict of interest with his role in the England 2018 campaign.
Lord Coe said in The Sunday Telegraph: “There is absolutely no doubt that the view of me and some of my colleagues on the ethics committee was that once they (FIFA) had moved from continental rotation to actually choosing countries outside of that norm, the structure of that bidding process was not fit for purpose.
“There was no question about that.
“I suppose, for me, the only frustration was that when I got asked to help England’s bid for 2018, we were as a committee at that stage putting a framework together for the bidding countries.
“I was driving it particularly because of the Olympic experience. It does appear to me that when I stepped down to do the England stuff, the thing that they took their foot off the pedal on was that.
“That now has to be a serious priority, to get some structure back into that.
“There’s no excuse about time here because, as we know to our cost, they have got until 2022 to figure that out.”
FIFA have been hit by allegations of wrongdoing during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding campaigns from The Sunday Times and from England 2018 chairman Lord Triesman.
Sepp Blatter was last Wednesday re-elected unopposed for a fourth term as FIFA president, with rival candidate Mohamed bin Hammam having been suspended pending a full inquiry into allegations of bribery prior to the vote, along with FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.
Kissinger role
Meanwhile, Henry Kissinger is mulling over an offer from FIFA president Blatter to help clean up world football’s governing body but said he needed more details before committing himself.
A lifelong football fan, the Vietnam War-era US secretary of state and national security adviser has been asked by Blatter to take part in a new group looking at ways to reform FIFA following months of corruption allegations.
“Yes, he’s invited me, but he has not been specific except to say he wants to create a group of wise men to deal with some of the issues that have arisen,” Kissinger, 88, told BBC Radio yesterday.
“I am an avid football fan and have been all my life. I watch as many games as I can.
“If it can help the sport I would be willing to participate but I have to know who the other participants are and what the terms of reference are before I make a final commitment.”