Tweet
COE DEFENDS WATCHDOG ROLE
Posted 22/10/07 15:06
EmailPrintSave
Sebastian Coe has defended his role as head of FIFA's watchdog body and insisted he is not merely a figurehead.
Lord Coe is chairman of FIFA's ethics committee and BBC Panorama's programme claims there are a number of cases he should be investigating.
Panorama say they are "examining whether England can expect 'fair play' from FIFA" in bidding for the 2018 World Cup and the conduct of FIFA officials following the US court case between the organisation and MasterCard that ended with FIFA paying a £45million settlement.
Coe, a Chelsea season ticket holder and chairman of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee, said: "The committee takes its role very seriously. And I will never be just a figurehead. I want to make a difference.
"The FIFA role was something I was asked to do and anybody who knows me, knows I've been watching football regularly for 40 years and I think there's a job to be done there. But it won't happen overnight.
"It's taken a good chunk of the last year to make sure we're in a position to operate in an independent and sensible way," he told the Sunday Herald.
Meanwhile, a row has broken out over allegations to be made in the Panorama programme by the former president of the Scottish FA John McBeth that FIFA vice-president Jack Warner asked for the fee for Trinidad and Tobago's friendly match in Edinburgh in 2004 to be paid directly to him.
Warner has insisted the allegations are totally untrue.
The pair have clashed in the past - McBeth was to be the four home nations' British FIFA vice-president but was dropped in May after he made comments implying African and Caribbean nations were tainted by corruption and greed.
Warner, the president of the CONCACAF federation of countries from north and central America and the Caribbean, made an official complaint to FIFA saying the comments "smacked of racism".
Posted 22/10/07 15:06
EmailPrintSave
Sebastian Coe has defended his role as head of FIFA's watchdog body and insisted he is not merely a figurehead.
Lord Coe is chairman of FIFA's ethics committee and BBC Panorama's programme claims there are a number of cases he should be investigating.
Panorama say they are "examining whether England can expect 'fair play' from FIFA" in bidding for the 2018 World Cup and the conduct of FIFA officials following the US court case between the organisation and MasterCard that ended with FIFA paying a £45million settlement.
Coe, a Chelsea season ticket holder and chairman of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee, said: "The committee takes its role very seriously. And I will never be just a figurehead. I want to make a difference.
"The FIFA role was something I was asked to do and anybody who knows me, knows I've been watching football regularly for 40 years and I think there's a job to be done there. But it won't happen overnight.
"It's taken a good chunk of the last year to make sure we're in a position to operate in an independent and sensible way," he told the Sunday Herald.
Meanwhile, a row has broken out over allegations to be made in the Panorama programme by the former president of the Scottish FA John McBeth that FIFA vice-president Jack Warner asked for the fee for Trinidad and Tobago's friendly match in Edinburgh in 2004 to be paid directly to him.
Warner has insisted the allegations are totally untrue.
The pair have clashed in the past - McBeth was to be the four home nations' British FIFA vice-president but was dropped in May after he made comments implying African and Caribbean nations were tainted by corruption and greed.
Warner, the president of the CONCACAF federation of countries from north and central America and the Caribbean, made an official complaint to FIFA saying the comments "smacked of racism".