FIFA to take action in controversial Football Awards
In a press statement FIFA the body remarked that it would investigate and apply sanctions where necessary if any wrong-doing is discovered.
Following lingering controversy regarding the result of 2019 The Best Football Awards, the governing body, FIFA has promised to take action should there have been any case of wrong-doing, and even if this did not affect the result of the vote.
In a press statement FIFA the body remarked that it would investigate and apply sanctions where necessary if any wrong-doing is discovered.
The body stated that it had been disappointed to see a number of reports in the media questioning the integrity of the voting process for awards.
“These reports are unfair and misleading. The voting procedure for each of the awards is supervised and monitored by an independent observer, in this case PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland”, the statement read in part.
It further stated that FIFA and the supervising agency for the project, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) of Switzerland followed the Rules of Allocation and relevant standard control procedures.
The Rules of Allocation can be found here.
FIFA further explained that the rules requested all member associations to submit their voting forms both electronically and in writing.
“The written documents must also be signed by the responsible persons of the association as well as by the persons authorised to vote. Therefore in order for a vote to be valid, it must include the respective signatures and the member association’s stamp.
“Both FIFA and the independent observer can demonstrate that all the votes submitted in accordance with the rules and within the deadlines were taken into account.
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“Consequently, there is no doubt whatsoever as to the authenticity of the result” the FIFA media release stated.