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Egypt has filed a complaint with FIFA after its World Cup exit to Argentina, making accusations of “double standards” and demanding the removal of the referee and his team. This comes just after England defender Jarell Quansah was handed a two-match ban after his sending off during their last-16 victory over Mexico. As speculation of 'corruption' from Gianni Infantino and within FIFA generally multiplies, Simon Marks speaks to Nicholas McGeehan, Director and Co-Founder of FairSquare a football standards and governance organisation. #simonmarks #donaldtrump #worldcup #fifa #infantino #football #politics #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK.
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0:00
There is always controversy surrounding FIFA, and especially over the last week, given President Donald Trump's efforts to rig the outcome of the entire contest
0:11
Gianni Infantino snapped to attention when Trump demanded the reinstatement of Fallorin Balogun, America's top goal scorer
0:24
That effort spectacularly backfired when Belgium then thrashed the American team 4-1
0:31
But what does all of this tell us about the state of FIFA and its susceptibility to corruption
0:38
I'm joined on the programme now by Nicholas Mageehan, director and founder of Fair Square
0:43
football governance and lobbying organisation that has launched the Reboot FIFA campaign
0:49
Mr Mageehan, thanks very much indeed for your time this morning. Thanks for being on the programme
0:54
Explain, first of all, what is the Reboot FIFA campaign? Why does FIFA need to be rebooted
1:00
Good morning. Good morning, Simon. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, well, we've been sort of researching and campaigning on FIFA for quite some time
1:08
predominantly in the run-up to the Qatar 2022 World Cup. And I think coming out of that tournament, a great sense of frustration and anger at the way that FIFA had behaved
1:16
And so we started to really turn our attention directly towards FIFA and look at its governance
1:20
and try to essentially build a body of evidence demonstrating that the organization was systematically dysfunctional
1:28
deeply mismanaged and badly governed, and in need of external reform. So with the Reboot FIFA campaign, what we're trying to do is essentially offer the general public the opportunity to get involved in this
1:40
People who care about the game, there are many of them, and many of your listeners are sure I'm part of that
1:45
but we have no stake in how the game is run. And so Reboot FIFA is part of them offering the public the opportunity to register their dissent at Infantino and all the carrying on And presumably you are even more emboldened in the need for action by some of the conduct that we have seen at this World Cup
2:02
including President Donald Trump, quite frankly, trying to rig the outcome of it
2:07
Yeah, I mean, it's been quite remarkable. I mean, I don't think anyone would have predicted last year
2:12
that FIFA would give Trump a peace prize. You know, that was ludicrous in and of itself
2:17
And, you know, it was hard to predict coming into this how things would play out. And Trump had been taking a bit of a backseat for a while, obviously, which I think caused people to be slightly surprised
2:27
But then, of course, he has made the most spectacular and ludicrous intervention here
2:31
And as you say, it appears to be a pretty blatant effort to rig the game and sort of damage the competitive integrity of the game in favour of his favourite team
2:40
And of course, what this has done, as you will be aware, Nicholas, is unleash all sorts of fresh accusations that the tournament is fixed
2:47
I see that players from Egypt are saying because they lost and they're questioning some of the calls that the referee made during the course of their last game, that it just proves the entire tournament is fixed
3:00
I mean, Donald Trump's actions have taken the entire world of football down this road where sometimes even, you know, the handing out of a penalty or the sending off of a player
3:13
I mean, all of that is now going to be used as to fuel claims that the entire organization is rigged
3:21
Yeah, absolutely. I think it's critical that we take this all back to what is what are structural problems and serial misgovernance
3:27
misgovernance. Now, typically, we've seen this impact off the pitch, right? We've seen
3:31
abuses in Qatar and all sorts of terrible things happening linked to the World Cup
3:36
What's happening though now is the organization is becoming so dependent on authoritarians
3:40
and the money that they are happy to pump into FIFA, that that misgovernance is bleeding
3:45
onto the pitch And as you see it is leading to situations where people are crying foul for all sorts of things and people are talking about you know the conspiracy theories that will be fostered by this misgovernance are legion
3:58
But it all comes back to these structural problems. And again, these are problems that predate Infantino
4:03
I mean, he is a serious problem and he should be kicked out of FIFA
4:07
and kicked out of global football. But the bigger point is FIFA and its unfitness to govern the game globally
4:11
And yet, Nicholas, Gianni Infantino does not look like a man who's particularly phased by all of this global criticism
4:20
Yeah, it's interesting. I wonder, I think he must be to some extent, though. I mean, we've seen interventions from members of the European Parliament
4:26
We've seen incredibly strongly word statements from UEFA. The Norwegian Football Federation supported our ethics complaint
4:33
against Infantino, which is a pretty remarkable intervention for a federation to take
4:37
So I think you're right. He's probably pretty well protected because FIFA enjoys a degree of autonomy and there is a lack of accountability
4:44
generally surrounding the organisation. But politicians are beginning to take notice, and I think that must cause him some consternation
4:51
But he has brought 12 more teams into the tournament this time around, and there is talk about further expansion
4:57
Is he not presumably hoping to buy himself some friendships and some alliances among those countries that he brings into the FIFA World Cup
5:07
Yes, absolutely. That's the strategy. You know, Infantino's strategy for the game is more, you know, more teams, more money, more competitions
5:15
because the revenue that he can generate through bringing more people in
5:20
he can send out to those member associations that shore up his power base
5:24
So, yeah, I think to some extent he will probably feel emboldened by the success of this tournament or what some people perceive
5:30
as the success of the tournament, its expansion. But generally speaking, I think what we're seeing is the rottenness
5:36
at the heart of the organisation is beginning to sort of chip away
5:41
at that organisation and really damage its integrity and reputation in a way that I think it is going to be very difficult for it to recover from One of our listeners Brian has texted in while we been talking to say Infantino should be out Fantino
5:55
But there's no great risk of that, is there? Or is there something here that could ultimately bring him down
6:01
Well, I think his power base rests in the confederations in Africa and Asia
6:05
So he will believe that he's got enough votes there to secure that. FIFA is very well protected by the weakness of Swiss law, which is supposed to govern it
6:15
And so, yeah, I think he will feel quite safe. At the same time, when you do have politicians stepping in and expressing deep discontent about the way he's governed
6:24
that's a threat to sporting autonomy. And that's a threat to sports governing bodies generally
6:29
And I think the one thing that sports governance bodies fear is political intervention
6:33
So if Infantino is, by his actions, putting FIFA at risk of regulation, I think there will be people within the organization that will be concerned about that
6:43
So I don't think he's going to disappear anytime soon, but I do think he is vulnerable right now
6:47
What about the FIFA Peace Prize? Is that going to disappear anytime soon? That's a very good question. I suspect Trump will be the only recipient of that prize
6:57
But with FIFA, you can never quite tell. So it remains to be seen
7:00
Bet you he gets it two years running. Nicholas, thanks very much indeed for joining us on the programme today
7:05
Nicholas McGeehan, director and founder of Fair Square, a football governance and lobbying organisation
7:12
FIFA, this is a statement from Gianni Infantino, his official position is that FIFA's judicial bodies are independent
7:21
They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA disciplinary code and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them
7:31
The statement goes on there. Independence is essential to the credible, the credibility and integrity of football
7:39
This must always be respected. That's a statement from Gianni Infantino
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