‘End of reforms’ after Blatter banisher booted

MANAMA — FIFA bosses on Tuesday recommended replacing the ethics judge who helped bring down Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, prompting accusations that the move was politically motivated.

At a five-hour meeting of the FIFA council in Bahrain, chaired by president Gianni Infantino, it was decided to replace German Hans-Joachim Eckert and ethics investigator Cornel Borbely.

In response, a furious Eck- ert and Borbely said in a statement their removals effectively meant the “de facto end of FIFA’s reform efforts”.

They suggested the decision was “obviously politically motivated”, and added: “It seems the FIFA hierarchy has valued its own and political interests higher than the long-term interests of FIFA.”

The council recommended replacing Eckert with Greek Vassilios Skouris, a former president of the European Court of Justice.

Ethics investigator Borbely is to be replaced by Colombia’s Maria Claudia Rojas.

The council also recommended Fiti Sunia of American Samoa serve as deputy to Skouris, while Canada’s Bruno de Vita and Martin Ngoga of Rwanda will work alongside Rojas.

The decision is set to be ratified by FIFA at its annual Congress, which convenes in Bahrain on Thursday.

A statement from FIFA said that candidates “will be pre- sented for election en bloc to the FIFA congress, each for a term of office of four years, which would come into effect immediately”.

The decision not to re-elect Eckert and Borbely came after they both served their fouryear terms.

However, it is likely to raise eyebrows as critics have accused Infantino of having a personal motive to replace Eckert and Borbely, as an ethics investigation was launched against the FIFA president last year.

Eckert was the judge who opened proceedings against Blatter and Platini in November 2015, after FIFA was engulfed by accusations of corruption.

He also opened the case against Jerome Valcke, Blatter’s former powerful deputy, which ended with the once all-powerful French administrator being banned from the game.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, FIFA council officials left tight-lipped, but one insider said: “Congress members felt FIFA and the ethics commission needed freshening up.”

The same source said that Eckert was blamed for “still being against the publication of Garcia’s report” into corruption at the heart of FIFA.

Also on Tuesday, the FIFA council ruled out exclusivity for the joint US, Canada and Mexico bid to host the 2026 World Cup.