FIFA Ethics Committee Will Perform 'Integrity Checks' on Presidential Candidates

Seeking an end to a longstanding cycle of corruption, FIFA intends to make all presidential candidates pass integrity checks.

The plan has been proposed by the head of FIFA's independent audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala, per Press Association reporter Martyn Ziegler (h/t Daily Mail): "At the end of the day, it goes down to the merits of the accusations. The ethics committee carries out the integrity checks and we [the election committee] will rely heavily on the assessment of the ethics committee."

This means candidates Chung Mong-Joon, Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein and UEFA's Michel Platini will need to be rubber-stamped by the ethics committee and its checks before they are confirmed worthy to stand for election.

Claude Paris/Associated Press

Scala is the man tasked with overseeing the next elections for the right to lead world football's governing body. His proposal is clearly intended as an attempt to wipe away some of the stain left by Sepp Blatter's tenure, a period that ended with indictments and the Swiss overseer declaring he'll be stepping down.

Ziegler also points to Scala's standing as someone who has pushed for major reforms within FIFA in recent months.

Still, face-saving gesture or not, Scala's attempts to at least closely monitor the candidates does represent a small step in the right direction for FIFA.