Few stakeholders likely to attend 'clean-up Fifa' summit in Brussels

London

REVOLUTIONS have to start somewhere, but who would have thought that the attempt to impose reform upon Fifa could take shape at the European Parliament in Brussels? A summit meeting of the "New FIFA Now" campaign started on Wednesday, drawing together a mix of politicians, educators, business leaders, fans and disaffected soccer officials intent on forcing Fifa to clean up its organisation.

"Change doesn't happen overnight," said Damian Collins, a British member of Parliament who leads this initiative. "We are in this for as long as it takes. Our agenda is for real change in a new style of organisation and with a new style of governance consistent with Fifa's privileged position as custodians of the biggest sport in the world. People said the fall of the Berlin Wall would never happen. They thought the Olympic movement could never get past its corruption scandals, and that world cycling could not be cleaned up."