London: Prince William intervened in the Fifa corruption scandal on Saturday night with an unprecedented speech criticising world football’s governing body. He urged Fifa to deal with the allegations of widespread bribery levelled at the organisation by American and Swiss investigators for the sake of football and its fans around the world.
In his speech as president of the Football Association (FA) before the FA Cup Final at Wembley, the Duke gave his backing to the FA’s tough stance on Fifa and its opposition to its president, Sepp Blatter, who stands accused of presiding over “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted corruption”.
The Duke said: “There seems to be a huge disconnect between the sense of fair play that guides those playing and supporting the game, and the allegations of corruption that have long lingered around the management of the sport internationally.”
Last week, 14 Fifa officials, including seven of the organisation’s most senior figures, were arrested at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of criminal investigations into bribes totalling $150 million (Dh550 million). “The events in Zurich this week represent FIFA’s Salt Lake City moment, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) went through a similar period of serious allegations,” said the Duke.
“Fifa, like the IOC, must now show that it can represent the interests of fair play and put the sport first.” The Duke gave his support to the decision by David Gill, vice-chairman of the FA, to refuse to turn up for his first meeting on FIFA’s executive committee after Blatter’s re-election as president on Friday.
“Those backing Fifa, such as sponsors and the regional confederations, must do their bit to press these reforms — we are doing football and its fans no favours if we do not,” said the Duke. The Duke helped spearhead England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup, which it lost to Russia. He was left “bitterly disappointed” in 2010 when England won only two of a possible 22 votes in the secret ballot.
Russia’s bid is now the subject of a Swiss investigation into Fifa corruption, along with the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. The Duke’s intervention — which represents an unprecedented move for a senior member of the Royal family — came as world football appeared to be heading for a fundamental split over the continued influence of Blatter as president of Fifa.
Greg Dyke, the chairman of the FA, said most South American countries had joined Europe in voting against Blatter on Friday, in opposition to his bedrock of support among Asian and African countries. The former director-general of the BBC said that Blatter’s failure to win the support of football’s two most influential continents was indicative of his vulnerable position.
“What is interesting, so I am told, is that most of Europe voted against him and all of Latin America voted against him, so if it’s true that means the two biggest football continents said ‘we don’t want you, Mr Blatter’. And those are the two continents that are the World Cup,” he said.
