Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, who failed in an attempt to replace Sepp Blatter as Fifa president in May, says Blatter should not be handling the reform process at world football’s scandal-hit governing body and that the task should be left to his successor.
“We need a clear process, clear timelines, and a very clear remit. And all this should belong to the new president,” said Prince Ali, who has yet to declare whether he will run again in February’s vote.
“Although reforms are welcome and much needed, they are the mandate of the new president, not the old one. It is the role of the new president to put in place the necessary systems to implement the changes that Fifa so desperately needs, not a Task Force trying to rush this through in less than 60 days,” he added.
On Monday, Blatter announced Fifa was setting up a task force made up of 10 members of Fifa’s six continental confederations and a ‘neutral chairman’.
Reuters reports that Swiss businessman Domenico Scala, who holds two other positions in Fifa, has been approached by at least three confederation heads to lead the process.
Fifa has asked for recommendations from the task force to be delivered by the next executive committee meeting in late September, a schedule that Prince Ali believes is too brief.
“How can this Task Force address change in any meaningful way within such a short timeline? There can be no quick fix to issues that are clearly structural,” he said, adding that the set-up of the task force was wrong.
“Any Task Force that really will have the clout to bring about such vital reform should be a totally independent body, not from within the governance structure of Fifa.”