Fifa has been accused of providing an \u201copen door to fraud\u201d and allowing political influence to cast doubt on the integrity of the World Cup in a stinging rebuke by the Council of Europe\u2019s secretary general.<\/p>\n
In an open letter published to coincide with Sunday\u2019s final, Alain Berset also called for a new integrity framework to be built before the 2030 tournament, which is mainly being staged in Europe, and warned that Fifa<\/a> was embroiled in a crisis involving money and power.<\/p>\n Berset referenced the scandal surrounding Fifa\u2019s decision to shelve the suspension of the USA striker Folarin Balogun and made apparent allusions to comments made by the Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla about Kylian Mbapp\u00e9<\/a> and by the former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy about the France team<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Fifa World Cup 2026<\/a> has raised question after question,\u201d Berset wrote. \u201cA sanction suspended under pressure, within days, with no reasons given. The authority of referees called into question. Racist abuse of players, some of it from elected officials. Betting on every pass, every card, every corner. The celebration will end tonight. The questions will not.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a significant intervention given Fifa and the Council of Europe signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018, which remains valid. The agreement was struck to strengthen their work together on a number of topics, including \u201chuman rights, integrity and good governance in sport\u201d. Open criticism of one partner by another is vanishingly rare.<\/p>\n Gianni Infantino with Donald Trump at the World Cup final reception at Trump Tower on Friday 17 July in New York. Photograph: Ira L Black\/Fifa\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Berset took aim at Fifa\u2019s deal with ADI Predictstreet, which became the World Cup\u2019s official prediction market partner in April. \u201cBetting has moved from the result of a match to moments a single player can produce without changing the score,\u201d he said. \u201cA bet is won by making others lose. It is an open door to fraud. And this World Cup<\/a> has opened the door wider.\u201d<\/p>\n In further reference to the lifting of Balogun\u2019s ban by Fifa, which occurred after a phone call to its president, Gianni Infantino<\/a>, by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Berset said: \u201cWhen the rules bend under pressure, every result is open to doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n Infantino has said the decision to revoke Balogun\u2019s ban was taken independently by Fifa\u2019s disciplinary committee \u201cbased on the applicable regulations and the specific facts\u201d.<\/p>\n Berset, who is Swiss, proposed a \u201cworking dialogue that starts tonight\u201d to begin the \u201curgent work of strengthening the integrity of sport\u201d before future World Cups. He referenced work by the Council of Europe \u2013 which is the continent\u2019s intergovernmental human rights organisation \u2013 in creating a binding treaty to keep fans safe three months after the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, as well as further legislation set up to tackle doping in athletics and match-fixing.<\/p>\n The letter comes a week and a half after 72 members of the European parliament wrote to the 27 EU-based football associations asking for an investigation into Infantino\u2019s involvement in the Balogun case. It pointed to alleged breaches of political neutrality and suggested Fifa had contravened its own code of ethics.<\/p>\n It does not appear likely<\/a> that Uefa, European football\u2019s governing body, will formally take the matter further. In June, 50 members of the European parliament wrote to Infantino and the Fifa council requesting an investigation into the awarding of the Fifa peace prize to Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fifa was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n