FIFA slammed over anti-racism group abolition

The international football governing body FIFA on Monday faced a wave criticism from within the football world following its decision to disband its anti-racism task force after just three years, asserting that it had acheived its goals.

The president of the Jordan Football Association, Prince Ali, who is also FIFA vice president, called the move "incredibly worrying" in view of the "very real and apparent" racism problem still existing in the soccer world.

"The fight against racism is far from over, and the notion that the current FIFA leadership believes that the 'task force's recommendations have been implemented' is shameful," he said, adding that it was "ridiculous" for FIFA to believe it was the right time to abolish such a group.

'Absolute betrayal'

"Not tackling the plague of racism and discrimination properly is an absolute betrayal" of the values that should be represented by FIFA, he said.

Prince Ali also asserted that the group had never received proper support and was more an image-building project than a serious effort to tackle the issue.

Kick It Out, an organization set up to combat discrimination in English soccer, also slammed the decision, saying it was "perplexed" that it should have been taken ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, "which is notorious for racism and abusive activities towards minorities."

'Mission accomplished'

Howeber, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura defended the move, saying the anti-racism task force had "fully fulfilled " its mandate.

"We can live with the perception [that the abolition came too soon] but we are taking very seriously our role as football's governing body to fight discrimination; it is well reflected in the statutes," she said in the keynote address at the three-day Soccerex Global Football Convention in Manchester, England, which began on Monday.

"It had a very specific mandate and they came up with very strong recommendations and FIFA is acting on them," said the 54-year-old Senegalese Samoura, who is the first woman and non-European to serve on the FIFA executive.

The task force was set up in 2013 by then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter. It was at first headed by ex-FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb, until his arrest in 2015 during a US investigation into soccer corruption led to the appointment of Congolese federation pressident Constant Omari to the post.

tj/kms (AP, AFP)