Transparency and Good Governance at Heart of Debates

Part of the FIFA Task Force for the Good of the Game whose creation was proposed by the FIFA President and ratified by the 55th FIFA Congress in Marrakech (Morocco) on 12 September 2005, the Working Group for Financial Matters chaired by Dr Mathieu Sprengers (Netherlands) convened in Zurich for the second time yesterday (8 February 2006), with discussions focusing on five main topics: player transfers, multiple club ownership, betting, players’ agents and club management.

Reiterating the conclusions it had reached during its inaugural meeting on 18 November 2005, the working group repeated its call for increased financial transparency (transfers, players’ agents) and good governance (club management). Meanwhile, the members also considered the potential implications of multiple club ownership and betting on the integrity of football competitions, the latter issue also having been the central theme for another meeting in Zurich the previous day.

During yesterday’s meeting, a number of concrete proposals were elaborated for submission to the FIFA Executive Committee at its next meeting on 16-17 March.

The Working Group for Financial Matters includes not only members of the international football family but also external specialists:

·       international football family:
·       FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi

1       AFC General Secretary Dato’ Peter Velappan, UEFA CEO Lars-Christer Olsson –  representing the confederations

2       Dutch FA president Dr Mathieu Sprengers, Brazilian FA president Ricardo Terra Teixeira, Portuguese FA president Gilberto Madail (absent from yesterday’s meeting) – representing the member associations

3       FA Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore – representing the leagues

4       FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, RSC Anderlecht president Roger Vanden Stock – representing the clubs

5       FIFPro president Philippe Piat – representing the players

·       external specialists:
·       Lord Richard Faulkner, member of the British House of Lords and author of a report about the influence of betting on sport

6       Dr Protógenes Pinheiro de Queiroz, the Brazilian police officer who is leading an enquiry into the origins of the money that financed the acquisition of Brazilian club Corinthians and also heading the investigation of Edilson Pereira de Carvalho, a Brazilian referee who has been accused of match-fixing

“The calibre and diverse areas of expertise of the individuals making up the Working Group on Financial Matters have made it possible in a short period of time to draw up firm proposals concerning several key issues affecting football today. This is a very encouraging sign, “ commented the FIFA President in praise of the group’s work.

The two other working groups that make up the FIFA Task Force for the Good of the Game, namely, the Working Group for Competitions and the Working Group for Political Matters, will meet in Zurich on 16 and 17 February respectively.


Further information from:
FIFA Media Department
tel. : +41-43/222 7272
fax: +41-43/222 7373
e-mail: media@fifa.org

FIFA COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION / Zurich, 9 February 2006 / 2006-010-TaskForce-Finances-Meeting2-E.doc