FIFA President's Power in Focus: Why Major Decisions Must Remain a Collective Act
The governance structure of FIFA shows that major decisions cannot be made solely by the president. Control is shared between the FIFA Council and the Finance Committee, necessitating structural reforms to separate presidential and operational duties. Key resolutions require collective agreement.
One might think that the president stands at the head of the entire FIFA corporation – a monolithic leadership figure who alone decides the fate of global football. However, a close examination of the governance structure shows a different picture: decisions of fundamental importance are not for singular actors. Specifically, this means that major resolutions, such as the sale of World Cup shares, absolutely require a resolution from the FIFA Council; the president himself is not authorized to make such key decisions unilaterally. This dependence on collective consent is a central point of the current discussion regarding worldwide sports administration.
The oversight of all activities of the association is not limited to one person. Rather, control is shared between the FIFA Council and the Finance Committee, which illustrates that the power base is widely dispersed. In fact, UEFA has already criticized the president's actions in the past and even issued a temporary ban regarding data deletion.
Given this structure, the need for structural reforms is increasingly emphasized. The goal is to cleanly separate the presidential duties from the operational management. Should the situation escalate, it must be noted that the president could theoretically be removed through resignation or through the congress procedure. Although sporting quality is at the center, the governance must support this claim.