FIFA reforms: Salaries of officials now to be disclosed, term limits to be introduced

World football governing body FIFA on Friday passed a package of reforms at an extraordinary congress in Zurich, Switzerland.
The reforms include the disclosure of salaries and a four-year limit on a president’s term as football’s world governing body seeks to recover from a corruption crisis.

A new council will also replace the current executive committee, featuring a female representative from each confederation.

Later on Friday, the federation will elect a new president to replace Sepp Blatter, who held the position since 1998 and quit last June immediately after securing another four-year term.

The five candidates in Friday’s election are Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, Gianni Infantino, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Tokyo Sexwale and Jerome Champagne.

The election process was expected to begin at 12:00 GMT, but several rounds of voting might be required before a winner is known.

We stand united in our determination to put things right, so that the focus can return to football once again,” said acting FIFA President Issa Hayatou.

The hard work of restoring trust and improving how we work begins now.This will create a system of stronger governance and greater diversity that will give football a strong foundation on which to thrive. And it will deter future wrongdoing.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the new reforms passed, the disclosure of salaries will happen on an annual basis for the FIFA president.

The same will also apply to all FIFA council members, the Secretary-General and relevant chairpersons of independent standing and judicial committees.

The FIFA president’s tenure has also now been limited to three terms of four years, FIFA council members and members of the audit and compliance committee and the judicial bodies.

NAN recalls that Blatter served five terms as president, dating back to 1998.

In order to ensure separation of political and managerial functions, the elected FIFA council will replace the executive committee and will be responsible for setting the organisation’s overall strategic direction.

The general secretariat will oversee the operational and commercial actions needed to implement the strategy.

Also, in order to promote women in football, a minimum of one female representative will be elected as a council member per confederation.(NAN)