Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly calls for an assessment of football governance

"The Parliamentary Assembly (which includes 47 European countries) has called on the EU to consider setting up an independent 'observatory' to assess governance in football, following a series of scandals in the sport. Such a body would be entrusted with assessing governance at FIFA, UEFA and other football governing bodies, including aspects such as the integrity of elections to their governing structures," announced the Council of Europe on 24/01/2018.

"The observatory would not have the power to govern the sport, but to ensure that the principles of good governance are being effectively implemented and shared," said the parliamentarians in the resolution, based on a report by Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE). "Too little money harms football, too much is killing it. We need to prevent football from self-destructing," added the Parliamentary Assembly, which adopted the resolution by 131 votes to 5 (10 abstentions).

The Committee on Culture, Science, Education, and Media of the Parliamentary Assembly has already called on the authorities of the European Union, in consultation…