Francois Carrard, the Swiss lawyer recently named to lead FIFA's reform committee believes "soccer is not a true American sport. There, it's just an ethnic sport for girls in schools," according to The New York Times. The 77-year-old attorney also questioned why Americans should even be involved in FIFA at all, when football, baseball and basketball are so much more popular in the United States.
In one of his first interviews since he was named to lead the reform committee, Carrard shared his thoughts on a number of not-so-popular topics since the United States prosecutors broke up FIFA's alleged longstanding involvement with corruption and started arresting people, as previously reported by HNGN. Fourteen top FIFA officials were arrested in May of this year in an investigation conducted by the FBI. that backed the charges claiming widespread corruption in FIFA over the last 20 years.
Carrard drew a comparison between the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics scandal, (which occurred on his watch) and the current FIFA corruption scandal, according to ESPN. He concluded that the IOC scandal was worse from an American perspective because it happened on American soil "in the heart of Utah, amongst the Mormons," Carrard stated.
Carrard went on to imply that ensuring FIFA survived the reform process was a top priority, declaring that without FIFA, soccer would die. As for the United States' criminal case against the 14 soccer and marketing executives arrested in May on the eve of FIFA's annual congress, Carrard said he was sure the matter involved only a few rogues on the executive committee.
Carrard even offered his thoughts on exiting FIFA President Sepp Blatter stepping down in February. Carrard added, "There is something unfair in the way he has been treated. He certainly made mistakes, but he also brought positive elements. Blatter claims he is clean, that any corruption involved is with individuals, not FIFA," according to FOX Sports.
