Infantino crisis shows football needs independent non-exec, says ex-Fifa advisor
The crisis at the top of world football has again shown the need for independent non-executive directors, says former Fifa and Uefa advisor Ebru Koksal.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino is staring down calls to quit over his secret plans to sell stakes in a new commercial entity that would manage the World Cup to private investors including the extended family of his ally Donald Trump.
Senior Fifa officials including chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, global development chief Arsene Wenger and Infantino’s personal advisor Carlos Cordeiro all denounced the plan and the absence of consultation before it leaked two weeks ago.
“The discussions had been going on for a while but the fact that it had not been confronted signals some lack of checks and balances and a genuine independent challenge,” Koksal, the chair of Women in Football, told Morning Wire.
She added: “I believe global sport would benefit from stronger board governance and more robust decision-making. I appreciate that presidents and owners of sporting organisations often prefer boards made up of people from their close circles within the football ecosystem. But I think they’re missing an enormous opportunity by not bringing in more truly independent non-executive directors with experience from outside the game.
“Imagine having the former CEO of a FTSE 100 company sitting on the board of Fifa or Uefa. They would bring decades of experience in governance, strategy, risk management and organisational transformation. That doesn’t replace football expertise, it complements it.”
Infantino’s plan to effectively privatise the World Cup sparked a huge backlash and drew questions about why Fifa needed to raise capital when it is sitting on billions in reserves.
“For me, the question was both from a governance perspective, but equally the case for private investment was not necessarily laid out well for me,” said Koksal, a former Wall Street investment banker before becoming a leading European football executive.
World Cup sell-off wasn’t first Fifa red flag
The World Cup sell-off was just the latest and biggest first red flag for Infantino’s presidency, following rows with leagues, clubs and player unions over the expansion of Fifa competitions and the commercialisation of this summer’s tournament.
“We think that operational success sometimes validates all aspects of institutional governance. But obviously, there were always some questions around the transparency, accountability, culture, and exclusion of stakeholders from major decisions,” Koksal said.
The Fifa crisis prompted Women in Football to relaunch its Open Doors Agenda which, aside from arguing for more equality measures, also made wider reaching recommendations on governance best practice.
“We were also proposing transparent recruitment, term limits, and clear reporting systems to make accountability real,” says former Galatasaray CEO and Turkish football chief Koksal.
“The transparent recruitment process allows for not election but selection based on very rigorous criteria, bringing in the missing skill set and the right kind of people who don’t really have another agenda. They are only trying to complete their fiduciary duties towards the organisation that has appointed them as an independent director.”
Read the full interview with Ebru Koksal here.