26 February 2015

The latest decision announced by FIFA in relation to Qatar 2022 strengthens the argument for change according to New FIFA Now spokesman, Damian Collins MP.

“The decision to hold the World Cup in the middle of the football season underscores the need for the sea change in governance that #NewFIFANow is advocating,” Collins said.

“It’s past the time where we look at individual decisions made by FIFA, but the process by which these decisions are made.

“It started with the awarding of the World Cup tournaments four years ago and it keeps compounding every step of the way.

“The only way we will get change is not by shifting around deckchairs of the FIFA Presidency and on the Executive Committee but by the wholesale systemic and cultural change that the organisation needs.”

Collins said this is why #NewFIFANow’s platform for an independent FIFA Reform Commission is the most effective means of achieving change.

Collins also said that he had written to the four Presidential candidates, including Sepp Blatter, outlining #NewFIFANow’s aims and objectives. [Note: The four letters are to the right].

“Regardless of who wins the election on May 29th, we intend pursuing a program of genuine reform through a Reform Commission,” Collins said.

#NewFIFANow proposes that the FIFA Reform Commission be led by an eminent person reporting to an international entity such as UNESCO with a mandate to review and implement changes to FIFA’s Statutes, policies and committee membership. The Charter for FIFA Reform and 10 guiding principles are set out on the New FIFA Now website.

“We have to ensure that poor decisions are not made in the first place. They should not be made on the basis of deals, double-deals, counter-deals and subterranean behaviour, but on the basis of evidence and merit,” Collins said.