Continuing the trend of successful meetings held in previous years, FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee held its plenary meeting for 2023 in Dubai to discuss the latest developments in ethics-related matters and the challenges for the years ahead.

The meeting was chaired by Vassilios Skouris, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber and former President of the European Court of Justice, and Martin Ngoga, chairman of the investigatory chamber, former Prosecutor General of Rwanda and former Special Representative to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; and allowed the members of the Ethics Committee’s two chambers to share the valuable experiences accrued during their respective tenures.

The meeting provided the ideal opportunity to discuss future challenges and analyse the latest developments in the jurisprudence of the adjudicatory chamber and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as well as to take stock of the recent achievements in connection with various ethics-related proceedings.

While acknowledging that there has been a worrying increase in the number of cases involving sexual and/or psychological harassment in recent years, the committee reiterated its zero-tolerance policy against such behaviour.

The committee also addressed the recent upsurge in cases related to the misappropriation or misuse of funds – acknowledging the increasingly complex methods of improper conduct and subsequently discussing methods of best practice for engaging with these latest challenges – the latter concerning, in particular, issues of traceability.

Lastly, the members discussed the key changes and amendments included in the latest edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics (Edition 2023), as well as its practical implementation, with a view to providing greater protection to victims of discrimination and sexual abuse or harassment.

Further information regarding the Ethics Committee, including its composition and decisions, is available here.