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 "Since the reforms, we have had an exemplary organization in
ethics... we have two chambers... with independent chairmen,"
Blatter told the World Summit for Ethics in Sports.
"We are the only sports organization which has this independent body
for ethics, nobody else, not even the IOC (International Olympic
Committee).
"What is important is that they are totally independent, they have
been elected by the congress."
Blatter said that FIFA's ethics committee was entirely independent
and, since 2011, had consisted of two parts - the investigatory
chamber, responsible for investigating breaches of ethics, and the
adjudicatory chamber, which determines sanctions.
FIFA has been hit by a series of corruption scandals in the last few
years resulting in the suspension of several members of its
executive committee while some had to resign. Some members are still
under investigation.
These included Mohamed Bin Hammam, a candidate in the 2011
presidential election who was banned for life over a cash-for-votes
scandal.
The ethics committee is currently investigating the bidding process
for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, awarded to Russia and Qatar
respectively.
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"In football, we have challenges, because we have 209 national
associations, we have 300 million active participants in our sport
around the world... players, coaches, referees and with their
families we have 1.2 billion people, directly or indirectly involved
in our sport," Blatter added. "It is easy to control the football, our game, when it is played
on a pitch, there are boundaries, secondly there is a time limit and
there is a referee so it is easy to work with our 300 million
participants on the field of the play.
"Outside the field of play, we have no boundaries, no referees and
no timing."
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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