FIFA audit chief Scala quits

Domenico Scala quit his post as chairman of FIFA's Audit and Compliance Committee with immediate effect on Saturday in what he described as a "wake-up call" for those working to reform the organization.

At FIFA's annual congress in Mexico City on Friday, new measures were voted in that would allow the FIFA Council, headed by President Gianni Infantino, to control who is appointed to FIFA's independent oversight bodies such as the Ethics Committee and the Audit and Compliance Committee.

"I am consternated about this decision," Scala said in a resignation statement.

"It will henceforth be possible for the council to impede investigations against single members at any time, by dismissing the responsible committee members or by keeping them acquiescent through the threat of a dismissal," Scala said.

The move, he added, "undermines a central pillar of the good governance at FIFA, and it destroys a substantial achievement of the reforms."

Scala had monitored FIFA since a 2012 round of reforms led by the previous president, Sepp Blatter, aimed at stamping out corruption. In recent years, corruption scandals have plagued the careers of many top soccer administrators including Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini, who on Monday said he would step down from his position.

In a speech on Friday, Infantino declared the corruption-fueled crisis at FIFA to be over.

Later responding to questions from reporters, he defended the new powers to remove key people overseeing his work.

se/sms (AP, AFP)