FIFA and the Perils of No Accountability

Home / Blogs

FIFA and the Perils of No Accountability

	By Timothy Denton lawyer, former national regulator (CRTC)
	May 28, 2015 Views: 7,708 Comments: 1

Forgive me if you can, but I am about to say something blindingly obvious. The arrests made by the US Government and Swiss authorities of senior FIFA officials should remind us of a deep truth. Organizations must be accountable: to members, to users, to superiors, to markets, to someone who can say “stop what you are doing and amend your ways”. When we consider the transfer of authority from the USG over the IANA function, let us keep in mind that ICANN must be accountable for the IANA function, and if it fails in this, user groups—the names, numbers and protocol parameter communities—need to be able to amend the ways of its contractor. ICANN is light years away from FIFA, organizationally, legally, morally. But as people behave according the incentives they face, then, over the long run, the incentives to behave well must be strong enough to ensure efficiency and probity. I did warn you I was about to say something obvious.

NORDVPN DISCOUNT - CircleID x NordVPN
Get NordVPN [74% +3 extra months, from $2.99/month]

By Timothy Denton, lawyer, former national regulator (CRTC)

Filed Under

Comments

Matt Ridley on the same topic Timothy Denton – Jun 6, 2015 11:50 PM

Matt Ridley has the same idea, better expressed. See
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/fifa-and-other-unaccountable-international-fiefdoms.aspx

# 1 Reply | Link | Report Problems

The Weekly Wrap

More and more professionals are choosing to publish critical posts on CircleID from all corners of the Internet industry. If you find it hard to keep up daily, consider subscribing to our weekly digest. We will provide you a convenient summary report once a week sent directly to your inbox. It's a quick and easy read.