Though the football tragedy was scheduled as an item on the agenda of the FIFA Executive Committee meeting last weekend, no mention of the deadly incident was made. Inas Mazhar reports Following a two-day meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee at the home of FIFA in Zurich, FIFA released a statement on its official website in which the world governing body agreed on major reforms of its governance, in particular relating to ethics, audit and compliance. It was the first meeting of the year of the committee. The statement saw decisions taken regarding all the agenda items except for one, the Port Said disaster. There was not even a mention. Seventy-four soccer fans were killed in a football riot, one of history's worst, following a league game between Ahli and Masri in the Egyptian city of Port Said on 1 February. Seventy-five people are to stand trial on April 17 in connection with the tragedy. Nine policemen are among the defendants in the trial, which will be held in Cairo for security reasons. Al-Ahram Weekly contacted FIFA's mead of media Pekka Odriozola who said the issue was not discussed but was mentioned at a post- meeting press conference. Listening to the video streamed live on its official website, FIFA president Joseph confirmed in the last three minutes of the conference, in reply to a question from an Egyptian reporter, that the executive committee had discussed the events of Port Said during the meeting "especially that Hani Abu Rida is an ex co-member and from Port Said as well." "We have showed our concern since the beginning and mourned the loss of the victims and their families and showed our moral and financial support to the Egyptian Football Association. We have donated a sum of $250,000 for the victims' families," said. "We have also asked the EFA to provide us with the report of the incident that took place during and after the game and asked them to intervene with the Egyptian authorities and provide us with the results of the investigation. "However, we have only received one report from the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) in which they have taken some disciplinary actions against both clubs but we haven't received the other report from the Egyptian authorities. We spoke to Abu Rida who regretted that the report had not yet been released but said it was due out soon. "So, for FIFA I would like to say that we haven't intervened in the decisions of the EFA or in this issue and will not intervene," said. 's quotes ended the long speculation in Egypt which claimed that FIFA will impose fines and penalties to the point of sanctions on Masri club and Port Said Stadium. Meanwhile, both Ahli and Masri have both decided to go to the Appeals Committee at the EFA in protest at the decisions taken against each club. Masri was banned from playing in the first division for two years and there will be no matches played in Port Said Stadium for three years. Ahli will play four games without fans. The club's coach Manuel Jose was banned for the same games. The former Masri club chairman Kamel Abu Ali agreed to return to his post as club chairman after his resignation in order to lead the club in its appeal. The two-day executive committee meeting included the chairman of the Task Force Ethics Committee, Claudio Sulser (Switzerland), the Task Force Revisio n of Statutes, Theo Zwanziger (Germany), and the Task Force Transparency and Compliance, Frank Van Hattum (New Zealand FA) as well as the Independent Governance Committee (IGC) led by Mark Pieth of Switzerland. They all presented their reports and proposals to the executive committee. Subsequently, the committee agreed on proposals to be submitted to the FIFA Congress. The FIFA Legal Committee has now been tasked with drafting the appropriate legal wording for these proposals so that they can be put on the Congress agenda, which must be completed one month before the Congress convenes in BudapestHungary on 24 and 25 May. The agreed proposals include in particular: a new structure within FIFA's Ethics Committee with two chambers (investigatory and adjudicatory); scrutinising of specific candidates for office bearers holding functions within FIFA as an official by the Ethics Committee; performing the role of a nomination unit, Audit and Compliance Committee; increased scope of responsibility of the Audit Committee by adding compliance to its activities; and the immediate appointment by the 2012 FIFA Congress of independent chairmen for the Ethics Committee and the Audit and Compliance Committee if the proposals are approved. Other recommendations included the co- optation of a woman onto the FIFA Executive Committee at the 2012 FIFA Congress; formal election in 2013; FIFA membership in principle permitted directly and no longer after a period of two years if an association is already a member of its confederation; integration into the FIFA Statutes in 2013 of last year's Congress decision that the host of the FIFA World Cup will be appointed by the FIFA Congress on the basis of a shortlist submitted by the FIFA Executive Committee; and self-reform of the International Football Association Board. The draft statutes prepared by the Task Force Revision of Statutes will also be submitted to the Congress for discussion. Other items presented by the IGC and the Task Forces will be further discussed according to the roadmap. Regarding FIFA finances, the executive approved the 2011 financial report, with a positive annual result of $36 million revenue of $1,070 million and expenses of $1,034 million. Seventy-five per cent of the expenses were spent on FIFA events and football development projects. The Executive Committee also approved the 2013 FIFA expense budget of $994 million. Furthermore, the executive fully supported a major innovation, namely worldwide player insurance on behalf of member associations. In short, this means that starting in August 2012, FIFA will insure all players involved in all "A" national team games listed in the international match calendar worldwide. This proposal will be submitted to the upcoming FIFA Congress for approval. The provisional budget for this project amounts to $100 million. Several TV broadcasting deals in Europe -- with ARD/ZDF (Germany) for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, SVT (Scandinavia) and EBU (for 37 European countries) for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups -- have been approved following a European tender. The proposal of the working group for the international match calendar, comprising FIFA, the six confederations, clubs, leagues and FIFPro, regarding the 2015-2018 period has been approved as follows: structured in two-year cycles, nine double dates organised in international windows lasting from Monday to Tuesday of the following week, and one additional double date in June 2016 for all confederations except UEFA. Regarding the Olympic football tournaments, the executive decided that the release of the U- 23 players by clubs will be compulsory. In the medical aspect, cooling breaks in FIFA competition matches in hot and humid conditions (over 31/32�C) have been approved. On new member associations, the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has been given until 15 June 2012 to settle the issues at stake, notably the control of the breakaway league, failing which the case will be referred to the FIFA Emergency Committee for suspension. The Football Association of South Sudan (SSFA), admitted as the 54th member of the Confederation of African Football as recently as late February, cannot, under the current FIFA Statutes, immediately become a FIFA member. However, should the current proposed amendments to the FIFA Statutes be adopted by the 2012 FIFA Congress, the SSFA could be admitted by the Congress this year. The two-day meeting was attended by new CONMEBOL member Marco del Nero (Brazil) as well as CONCACAF's Jeffrey Webb (Cayman Islands), who was invited ahead of his formal appointment expected in May. The next FIFA Executive Committee meeting will be held in Budapest on 21 and 22 May, ahead of the 62nd FIFA Congress which will take place on 24 and 25 May.
