Royalty Laments on FIFA Blunder: Prince William Breaks Silence on Corruption Scandal, Calls for Reforms
Dave Tacagay | | Jun 02, 2015 06:40 AM EDT |
(Photo : Reuters) Prince William addressed the FA Final Cup audience before the match to call for reforms in FIFA.
If there ever was one man whose words carry a lot of weight in the world of football and had the credibility and stature to address the ongoing FIFA crisis, it would be Prince William. At the FA Final Cup at Wembley, The Duke of Cambridge addressed the crowd as president of UK's Football Association and took a hard stand on the corruption scandal that has plagued the sport's governing body.
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According to BBC, Prince William's straightforward comments on Saturday were clear. First, he called out FIFA and demanded the organization to respect fair play and consider the sport's interests first above all else. And second, he called out the sponsors, regional confederations, and benefactors to use everything in their power to incite reforms.
Before the match between Arsenal and Aston Villa started, the Prince called out for reforms in FIFA that will be instrumental to the mission of the organization to bring the benefits of the sport to more people. He added that not doing so would be doing football and its fans a great disservice.
Prince William's comments came after members of FIFA's leadership were arrested in Zurich, including a number of people connected to the issue also indicted, on charges of corruption by the US Department of Justice, as reported by News.Com.Au. US DOJ claims the FIFA officials and sports marketing executives allegedly conspired, facilitated, and accepted bribes worth US$150M in exchange for exclusive marketing and television rights.
FIFA, the administering organization of arguably the world's most popular sport, was also involved in a number of controversies in the past, which included money laundering, game fixing, and even electoral rigging and fraud amongst its officials. Chief example of which is the controversial re-election of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has been at the helm since 1998. A number of confederation leaders have called for the resignation of Blatter due to the recent scandal, but the FIFA leader is steadfast and even declared himself as the one who will lead the organization through the crisis, according to Sky News.
This prompted Prince William to single out and praise the decision of former Manchester United chief executive, and recently elected vice president of FIFA, David Gill in his decision to resign from his post, calling the move "leading by example."
Meanwhile, UK Football Association chairman Greg Dyke told reporters that the country is prepared to support a move by its European counterparts to boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia, should UEFA decide to do so in its next meeting in Berlin.
TagsFIFA Scandal, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Bribery, bribery scandal, sepp blatter, David Gill, Greg Dyke, Aston Villa
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