Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By RYAN TOLMICH
FIFA has rarely been known for its transparency, which is something U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati is hoping to change.
Gulati revealed Wednesday in an interview with the New York Times that he plans to address the ethics report regarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups during Thursday’s FIFA executive committee meeting in Zurich. The report, which Gulati is hoping will become public, centers around the investigation into the bidding process surrounding the pair of World Cups, which were controversially awarded to Russia and Qatar.
“If we’re going to truly support the idea of transparency and change within FIFA, it has to be made public in the truest meaning of the word,” Gulati said. “That doesn’t mean only to the executive committee. It has to be more.
“Right now, the whole story is not about what’s in the report but whether it should be made public. And that isn’t ideal for anyone.”
The reports were assembled by former U.S. prosecutor Michael J. Garcia, who also believes that the findings should be made public.
“Given the limited role (chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber of FIFA’s independent ethics committee) Mr. Hans-Joachim Eckert envisions for the Adjudicatory Chamber,” Garcia said in a statement. “I believe it is now necessary for the FIFA Executive Committee to authorize the appropriate publication of the Report on the Inquiry into the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup Bidding Process.
“Publication would be consistent with statements made by a number of Executive Committee members, with the view recently expressed by Independent Governance Committee Chair Mark Pieth, and with the goals of the reform process.”
While full details within the report may need to be redacted due to future investigations, Gulati believes the public has a right to know what has gone on.
“I think it is important,” Gulati said, “and I think the executive committee can, and should, ask for it to be released in a reasonable form.”
—
What do you think of Gulati’s belief that the reports should be public? Do you think they’ll be released?
Share your thoughts below.