LONDON: English’s football unofficial withdrawal from FIFA in protest at the presidential re-election of Sepp Blatter has continued with Heather Rabbatts resigning from the world federation’s task force against racism and discrimination.
The president of the task force, Jeffrey Webb, was among seven senior officials detained by Swiss police in Zurich last Wednesday on an extradition warrant from the United States Justice Department.
Webb was also president of the central and north American confederation CONCACAF, a position from which he has since been dismissed.
David Gill, the new British vice-president of FIFA, withdrew from his appointment less than 24 hours after being installed at FIFA Congress on Friday.
Rabbatts, , one of the Football Association’s two independent directors, described her exit from the FIFA role as a difficult step to take.#
She said: “This has not been an easy decision as I believe the challenges facing FIFA on the issue of racism and discrimination are very significant, particularly in relation to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and, whilst FIFA has not taken these issues seriously in the past, progress has recently been made.
Reputational damage
“However, my willingness to play a part in the development of policies in this area is outweighed by the disastrous effect on FIFA’s reputation of recent events.
“Like many in the game, I find it unacceptable that so little has been done to reform FIFA.
“It is clear from the re-election of president Blatter that the challenges facing FIFA and the ongoing damage to the reputation of football’s world governing body are bound to continue to overshadow and undermine the credibility of any work in the anti-racism arena and beyond.
“My commitment to challenging discrimination across the game remains undiminished and I will continue to work with The FA and other international partners on this fundamental issue in our game.”
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