Mini Guide. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Boston Invitational Model United Nations XVI February 10-12, 2017 // bosmun.

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+ Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) FIFA was founded in May 1904 in Paris by delegates from Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

FIFA s primary objective is to improve the game of football constantly and promote it globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values, particularly through youth

The third objective is to build a better future for all through football. They want to improve the lives of young people and their surrounding communities.

FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each of the 209 affiliated countries.

2 + Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) FIFA was founded in May 1904 in Paris by delegates from Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The founders created the first FIFA statutes, unifying the laws of the game to make it fair and clear to all players setting the foundation for all future football development. FIFA s primary objective is to improve the game of football constantly and promote it globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values, particularly through youth and development programmes. 1 The second objective is to organize international football competitions, from men s, women s and youth football to beach soccer. The third objective is to build a better future for all through football. They want to improve the lives of young people and their surrounding communities. Everybody has a right to play football free from discrimination or prejudice. FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each of the 209 affiliated countries. The member nations are split up into six confederations; CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, CAF, AFC AND OFC. Each national football association has one vote, regardless of its size or footballing strength. The congress makes decisions relating to FIFA's governing statutes and their method of implementation and application. Only the Congress can pass changes to FIFA's statutes. For the Game. For the World. 1 Who We Are: FIFA. FIFA.com. 2 Marcus Christenson and Paul Kelso, Soccer chief s plan to boost women s game? Hotpants, The Guardian PAGE 2

3 + Topic 1 Gender Equality in Sports Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, infamously stated in 2004 that female soccer players should, play in more feminine clothes to increase their sport s popularity. His comment was widely viewed as insensitive and inappropriate for the occasion and insulted the entire community of female soccer players. Women athletes in every sport experience this kind of sexism along with unequal pay. 2 The 2012 London Olympics Women s Gold Medal soccer match was the most sporting event during the Olympics. 3 The 2015 women s World Cup final between the United States and Japan brought in 25.4 million viewers in the United States. This was higher than the men s World Cup final match from 2014 (17.3 million), the NBA finales and the Stanley Cup final (7.6 million). This signaled a new inspiration for future soccer players, especially young girls. The game was also able to shine a spotlight on the continued inequalities between the men and women. The United States Men s National Soccer team earned $8 million in their world cup tournament even though they didn t make it into the elimination rounds. Yet, the United States Women s National Soccer team only earned $2 million for winning the tournament. The winner of the men s tournament, 2 Marcus Christenson and Paul Kelso, Soccer chief s plan to boost women s game? Hotpants, The Guardian 3 Team USA Soccer Gold Medal Match Most-Watched Event in History of NBC Sports Network PAGE 3

4 Germany, was awarded $35 million. When asked about the conflict, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said, That's not even a question I will answer because it is nonsense We played [the] 30th World Cup in 2014 and we are playing the seventh Women's World Cup...We are still another 23 World Cups before potentially women should receive the same amount as men. 4 (Blatter was banned in 2016 for 12 years) FIFA is well behind another popular women s sport, tennis, in addressing inequality. In 2007 Wimbledon equalized prize money. Champions of both sexes will receive 26.7 million pounds for the 2015 final. 5 The women were also subjected to playing on artificial turf in the 2015 women s World Cup. Artificial turf has been blamed for increased injuries on sporting fields, including more sprained ankles, concussions, turf burns, and an injury known as "turf toe." Overheating is also a health concern for athletes since temperatures can be hotter on artificial surfaces than on natural grass. Finally, turf is widely known to alter the speed and quality of play on the field. Abby Wambach was noted as saying, The men would strike playing on artificial turf. FIFA has stated that the women will no longer have to play on turf for future games 4 Steve Keating, Equal pay for women many World Cups away, says FIFA Reuters 5 John Walters, Taking a Closer Look at the Gender Pay Gap in Sports, Newsweek PAGE 4

5 + Research Questions 1. Is FIFA responsible for fixing the inequalities in women s soccer? 2. How many women are on FIFA s governing boards? 3. What do other leagues/organizations do to combat inequalities? 4. What can FIFA do to further promote the women s game? 5. What can FIFA do to address these inequalities for the 2019 Women s World Cup? + Useful Resources _soccer.html PAGE 5

6 + Topic 2 FIFA Reform Following an investigation by the FBI, in May 2015 the United States Department of Justice raided a luxury hotel in Zurich, FIFAs headquarters. Fourteen FIFA executives and officials were indicted and arrested at the request of the US government. The Justice Department primarily states that the bribery deals between FIFA, sports marketing groups and broadcast networks for the television rights to air the World Cup dating back to It is found that the cumulative sum of these bribes is close to $150 million. 6 At a press briefing following the arrests, US attorney general Loretta Lynch said, The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted. It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. 7 The DOJ indictment is specifically a federal case so it s only concerns are with the alleged fraud in North and South America, but FIFA s corruption problems started before arrest were made in May In 2002 a whistleblower contacted a British journalist relating to corruption within FIFA. In 2010 when FIFA awarded the 2010 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar many people were suspicious about the choices. Russia has been accused of high levels of racism in football, 6 K.M. McFarland Everything You Need to Know About FIFAs Corruption Scandal, Wired 7 ibid. PAGE 6

7 especially with its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. Qatar has a limited soccer history, their human rights record and their high temperatures in the summer. The Qatar World Cup specifically was question about voter buying. In the past FIFA has never admitted to any corruption and has instead fired/suspended scapegoats. However, in 2012 FIFA commissioned an investigation into these allegations. Although FIFA announced that it could not release the Garcia Report because of legal reasons, people remained suspicions. 8 FIFA is run by one country one vote. That means that smaller countries like Trinidad & Tobago or Andorra have the same say as Russia or Germany. The smaller countries also receive a cut of FIFA revenue so there is no initiative for them to change the voting procedures. The end of the corruption saga seemed to end when Sepp Blatter stepped down as president in February On September 25, Swiss investigators announced that they were investigating Blatter in relation to payments made to UEFA president Michel Platini. While Blatter and Platini denied any impropriety around the payments, major FIFA issued public statements requesting that he resign for the good of FIFA. In October 2015 he was suspended from FIFA for 90 days while investigations into payments made to Michel Platini were conducted. In December, FIFA's ethics committee banned both Blatter and Platini from football for eight years. In February 2016, a FIFA appeals committee upheld the suspension but reduced it from eight years to six. 9 8 Owen Gibson, Michael Garcia s report into Russia and Qatar World Cups suffers new delay, The Guardian, 9 Sepp Blatter, Michael Platini bans reduced to 6 years by FIFA ESPNFC PAGE 7

8 + Research Questions 1. What could FIFA have done to prevent the corruption? 2. How have other leagues dealt with corruption? 3. What are the next steps FIFA can take? 4. Should there be an overhaul of the FIFA system? + Recommended Readings PAGE 8

Dr Emese Ivan Associate Professor of Sport management October 20 th 2016 Interdisciplinary Talks St John s University College of Professional Studies

Dr Emese Ivan Associate Professor of Sport management October 20 th 2016 Interdisciplinary Talks St John s University College of Professional Studies ! Governing Structure and Characteristics of International