Dear delegates, Welcome to FIFA! This is Hrishik Rajendra and Wifag Ahmed, and we will be your chairpersons for the FIFA Council at ChrisMUN 2017. To the experienced MUNers, we promise you a very enriching debate that you ve never experienced before and to the newcomers, we are really excited to be a part of your maiden voyage. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the international governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer. FIFA is responsible for the organisation of major international football tournaments, the most famous one being the quadrennial FIFA World Cup. It has the duty to maintain top notch standards in football and is tasked with administering the world football associations. Although football remains a simple game, its circumstances have changed dramatically. As the world governing body, FIFA takes into account a wide range of developments and other factors and decides on numerous issues in accordance with the FIFA Statutes and regulations. The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA. It is the main decision making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. Its members are elected by the FIFA Congress. The council is a non executive, supervisory and strategic body that sets the vision for FIFA and global football. As members of the FIFA Council, the first topic for the delegates to discuss would be the reform and reconstruction of the governance and system for restoring the faded glory of FIFA. The delegates are expected to discuss about the immediate and necessary amendments to the FIFA system of governance which are achievable and effective for the resurgence of the organization and protect the future of football rather than FIFA s bureaucratic interests. For the second issue delegates would be debating on would be the controversial World Cup 2022. Ever since Qatar won the bid for hosting the 2022 World Cup, there has been widespread criticism of the organization regarding its decision to permit the hosting of World Cup in December. Moreover, the questionable methods used by Qatar to fulfil their infrastructural needs are a concern on their own. Cases of human trafficking of players are also on the rise. The delegates should make a conclusive resolution on the fate of the World Cup, in addition to protecting human rights of the workers and the players. We hope you will find this Background Guide useful as it serves to introduce you to the topics for this committee. It is not meant to replace further research and we highly encourage
you to explore in depth the topics and strengthen your viewpoints as representatives of the FIFA Council. We wish you the best of luck in your preparation and look forward to seeing you debate. Your Chairs, Hrishik Rajendra Chair, The FIFA Council hrivik.r@gmail.com Wifag Ahmed Chair, The FIFA Council wifagahmed33@gmail.com
Issue 1: Financial Mismanagement FIFA has had a long history of scandal that leads back at least 24 years. The Federation has made little efforts in attempt to create a resolution to these scandals and has repeatedly denied any allegations. The scandals begin with the former president Sepp Blatter and continue to delegates within the FIFA Executive Committee. FIFA is now attempting to go through internal restriction by enforcing new methods of recruitment, however it is to be remembered that the main objective of FIFA is keeping the future of football safe and sound. History of Scandal In 1998 Sepp Blatter becomes president of FIFA and nearly a year later allegations arise that the election was rigged, and that pay outs of tens of thousands of dollars were taken by certain officials. In 2002 Secretary General Michel Zen Ruffinen accuses Sepp Blatter of money mismanagement when 500 million dollars are lost from FIFA. It is not until 2004 that a code of ethics was established, prior little to no ethics was established within the organization. Jack Warner, former Vice President of FIFA, is then accused of illegal world cup tickets being sold on the Black Market in 2006. Two years later Molefi Oliphant, the president of the South African Football Association (SAFA), shares a letter that shows evidence of a 10 million bribe to an account belonging to vice president Jack Warner. Just as the South African World Cup, so did began the United States Department of Justice their investigation into the dealings that led to South Africa hosting the World Cup. A key figure is Charles "Chuck" Blazer, former general secretary of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, who was co operating with US prosecutors. He has said that between 2004 and 2011: He and others on the FIFA Executive Committee agreed to accept bribes in connection with the selection of South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup One of his co conspirators received a bribe in Morocco for its bid to host the 1998 tournament, which was eventually awarded to France He and others also accepted bribes in connection with broadcast and other rights to the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003.
A year later in May 2011 Phaedra Al Majid, a media officer, shares information into the voting bids that led to Qatar being the host country, and claims that executives received a pay out. A month later Jack Warner resigns with new allegations springing up involving him and Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar. Another month after Jack Warner resigns, Bin Hammam is banned for a lifetime after being found guilty of a giving a bribe to the Caribbean Football Union(CFU). In December of 2012, he is banned for another lifetime. In September 2013 the Amnesty International releases human right abuse allegations against Qatar. Migrants from Bangladesh, India and Nepal working on the refurbishment of the showcase Khalifa Stadium and landscaping the surrounding gardens and sporting facilities known as the Aspire Zone are being exploited. Some are being subjected to forced labour. They can t change jobs, they can t leave the country and they often wait months to get paid. Pay is often withheld in order to keep the workers from leaving, other than pay passports are also kept with the construction companies. Meanwhile, FIFA, its sponsors and the construction companies involved are set to make massive financial gains from the tournament, FIFA alone is said to make 2 billion dollars from the 2022 world cup. On May 27th, 2015 the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) arrested FIFA Executives on a 47 count indictment The defendants charged in the indictment include high ranking officials of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the organization responsible for the regulation and promotion of soccer worldwide, as well as leading officials of other soccer governing bodies that operate under the FIFA umbrella. Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner, the current and former presidents of CONCACAF, the continental confederation under FIFA headquartered in the United States, are among the soccer officials charged with racketeering and bribery offenses. In conjunction, Swiss authorities in Zurich arrested seven of the defendants charged in the indictment, the defendants Jeffrey Webb, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel and José Maria Marin, at the request of the United States. Within the following month Sepp Blatter stepped down as FIFA Executive President and is banned for life. FIFA then decided to suspend any voting for the 2026 World cup until a new president was elected. Following the arrests made by the USDOJ in September Swiss authorities investigate Blatter. A twenty two month investigation went into Blatter had started and ended in March 2017.
How did this corruption happen? At the end of the end of the day it really has to do with how FIFA is organized, countries such as Trinidad, Maldives, and Andorra have the same say as larger countries such as Germany. All 209 member countries get one vote. Smaller countries have no reason to need money as they get an equal amount on FIFA s revenue. So if everything is equal then why is this a problem? The problem comes in when officials such as Sepp Blatter are elected and then are bribed to change the results of votes in favor of the running country, such as Qatar and Russia. Post Sepp Blatter FIFA can operate with impunity with respect to corruption, human rights, and international geopolitics because it has very little external accountability. The organization has shown, repeatedly, that it is just not up to the standards of good governance in the 21st century. 201 of the eligible 207 countries elected to vote, Indonesia and Kuwait are suspended, with 179 in favour of the reforms which aim to improve accountability, transparency, diversity and governance matters including term times of elected officials. FIFA has repeatedly stated that with this new reform the players and fans should be kept in mind which is why the trafficking of players will be addressed and new laws and guidelines have been written for the recruitment of football players. Block Positions No two countries can simultaneously agree as to how to address the issues within FIFA, however, countries within the Caribbean, North America, and South America all have officials that have been indicted by the United States Department of Justice in connection to corruption. The corruption scandal also included CONCACAF and CONMEBOL were also connected to the investigation. Delegates of these origins should stick together in order to form new resolutions to prevent what occurred within their own parties. However, it is within all of the delegates best interest to make sure that the game of football and all of football s adoring fans are kept top priority.
One proposed solution was the making of a new body that will vet any and all candidates for any presidential or vice presidential position for FIFA and football organizations under FIFA. This process will dig deeper into the candidate s background and history in the football world. Another concept is putting a limit on the duration and amount of times a president can be in office. Sources http://www.bbc.com/news/world europe 32897066 http://time.com/3910054/fifa scandal sepp blatter/ https://www.wired.com/2015/05/fifa scandal explained/ https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/culture/corruption sports fifa research r oundup http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/fifa/11924211/fifa scandal How to solve th e crisis engulfing world football.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/sports/fifa scandal arrests in switzerland.html? mcubz=1
Issue 2: Qatar World Cup 2022 Qatar's lack of infrastructure, combined with questions about the country's human rights record and bribery allegations, made it the most controversial World Cup host nation ever when it was picked back in 2010. With five years to go until the 2022 World Cup many of those initial questions haven't been properly dealt with yet. In fact, things seem to be getting worse. Move to Winter The harsh and extreme hot temperatures of the desert region in the months of Qatar that go above 47 C were a major concern for major European football clubs as it could take a toll on the wellbeing and fitness of their players and upon repeated requests and suggestions made by a special task force assigned by FIFA executive committees the dates of the 2022 FIFA World Cup were changed from the traditional June July, 02 schedule to be held in late November and December, 2022. This would in turn disrupt the schedule of most major footballing leagues within the UEFA and in fact all around the world as a winter World Cup will force them to suspend play for nearly three months in the middle of the season.. It would take no less than a herculean effort to work around the schedule of the World Cup. The African Cup of Nations would also have to alter its dates from January 2023 to prevent fatigue to the players from the African nations. Moreover, the 2021 Confederations Cup, an important pre World Cup test event, can't be held there because of the heat. Qatar has to build the majority of all of the infrastructure for the World Cup from scratch. Traditionally, the Confederations Cup an international tournament featuring the best teams from each continent serves as a test event for this World Cup infrastructure 12 months before the tournament. FIFA says the tournament will have to be held elsewhere in Asia because a winter Confederations Cup would disrupt domestic leagues and it's impossible to play a major soccer tournament in the Qatari summer.
Workers' conditions The issue of migrant workers' rights has also attracted attention, with an investigation by a leading British daily claiming that many workers are denied food and water, have their identity papers taken away from them, and that they are not paid on time or at all, making some of them in effect slaves. The International Trades Union Confederation, in a December report, estimated from Qatar's own public health statistics that over 1,000 migrant workers a year are dying, and that the total death toll by the time the tournament kicks off could be as high as 7,000.
Qatar s kafala, or sponsorship, system ties the legal residence of migrant workers to their employer. The system also requires foreign workers to obtain exit permits from their sponsors. This gives employers the power to arbitrarily block their employees from leaving Qatar and returning to their home country and makes it impossible for workers to complain of abuse without fear of reprisal. Qatar has yet to enact meaningful reforms to this labour system despite pledges to do so and years of sustained criticism. All migrant workers labour under the kafala system of slave like sponsorship. Under the system, workers have no freedom of association or collective bargaining rights, have their passports seized and are effectively owned by their employers. There have been countless examples of employers ripping up contracts and paying much less than what the migrant worker agreed to before leaving their home country. At the numerous construction sites for the World Cup and related infrastructure, migrant labourers work long hours every day for six days a week in Qatar s extreme heat. Construction sites in Qatar are known for a lack of safety regulation and the government preventing workers from having representation in unions to protect their lives. After their shifts migrant workers return to overcrowded and squalid labour camps with limited facilities, limited or no access to potable water and little escape from the heat. Many parts of Doha are off limits to migrant workers, which are designated as family zones, further curtailing freedom of movement for workers. No go zones are detailed on maps issued by the Qatar government. Every single construction and landscape worker is subject to abuse of one kind or another. Some of the abuse faced by the workers as reported by them include: Being forced to live in squalid and cramped accommodation Being required to pay large fees ($500 to $4,300) to recruiters in their home country to obtain a job in Qatar Being deceived as to the pay or type of work on offer (all but six of the men had salaries lower than promised when they arrived, sometimes by half) Not being paid for several months, creating significant financial and emotional pressures on workers already burdened with heavy debts Employers not giving or renewing residence permits, leaving people at risk of detention and deportation as absconded workers Employers confiscating workers passports and not issuing exit permits so they could not leave the country
Being threatened for complaining about their conditions. Evidence in the Qatar Health Report 2012, gives an annual approximate number of migrant worker deaths and their causes. The official figures can be broken down as follows: 420 deaths due to unknown causes 37.5% 449 or 39.7% from internal causes, which includes work related disease or illness, in particular the effects of dehydration from extreme heat at work and at night in labour camps 258 or 22.8% from external causes, which include on site accidents such as falls or being struck by objects and from vehicle or pedestrian accidents directly related to work To address to the issues at hand, FIFA just launched a body to oversee the treatment of workers on Qatar s World Cup stadiums. But the problem in Qatar and on World Cup construction isn t a lack of oversight. Stadium workers are already subject to supplementary protection on top of the local labour law, so this will be a third tier of protection. The problem remains a lack of political will to implement reforms and make protections fully effective. The greatest contribution FIFA can make is to help generate that political will by applying genuine pressure on the Qataris.
Protection of Players from Human Trafficking As football transfers for the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé enter the realms of 200 million euros, grabbing headlines across the world, something much more sinister is happening in the shadows, at a grassroots level that could easily threaten all of football. On the pitches of ramshackle football academies across West Africa, teenage boys chase one another in pursuit of the ball, the chance to impress, and the prospect of a lucrative contract with one of Europe's top teams. But instead of embarking on a career at an elite club, many boys are abandoned by crooked agents after being taken abroad in exchange for thousands of euros often their family's savings. Some 15,000 young players are moved out of West Africa each year under false pretences, but a lack of monitoring means the number of boys being trafficked abroad could be far higher. FIFA works hard to protect the rights of players younger than 18 whether male or female, amateur or professional. This is primarily done through the enforcement of regulations prohibiting the international transfer of a minor, or the first registration of a minor in a country other than their own, except in specific and verifiable circumstances. An international transfer of a minor player cannot take place unless one of the exceptions outlined in article 19 paragraph 2 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players apply. The sub committee of the FIFA Players Status Committee is charged with reviewing applications for these cases, taking into consideration the specific circumstances of each individual case while recognising the opportunities for incorporation that football certainly offers. One would say that greater collaboration between football associations and governments is needed to tackle child trafficking, yet this solution is not simple. FIFA is engulfed in its own corruption scandal and members have historically tried to keep sport and politics separate.
Block positions Understanding which countries support each other in such a large organization like FIFA may prove to be difficult and hence, here is a simplified explanation of which regions/countries typically support each other: North America, Western Europe, and the Oceania region generally support each other and share similar opinions. These countries include Canada, The United States, Australia, New Zealand, and nearly all European countries west of Poland. Two exceptions to note are Mexico and Spain, who generally fall under the other major bloc within FIFA. The other category of countries is South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and all of Asia. They generally have similar opinions and support one another in elections and other important FIFA Executive Committee decisions. If you represent a country in these areas of the world, it is safe to assume that you support others like you.