Coombs’ shame, FIFA’S verdict

Venold Coombs, the (now) former president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) has been shamed. And the administration of football in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) will never be the same again.

The facts here are simple and beyond equivocation.  Following a two year investigation, an independent Ethics Committee of FIFA charged Coombs with violating three articles of FIFA’s Code of Ethics – Article 21 that is concerned with bribery and corruption, Article 19 that is concerned with conflicts of interest, and Article 15 that is concerned with fidelity to FIFA. 

The Independent Ethics Committee found Coombs’ guilty on all three charges and has banned him forthwith for two years from all football related activities.

Coombs’ disgrace leaves the SVGFF in turmoil.  Football is the most popular sport in the land, with thousands of Vincentians engaged as players, spectators or administrators.  Multiple football competitions are played in SVG every year.  National teams, both at the senior and junior levels are especially admired by the footballing community because they offer a potent symbol of national pride.  And as Vincentians join the rest of the world community in celebrating the World Cup fever in Russia, we are reminded of the central role of sports in general and football in particular in advancing national goals of greater social cohesion, a healthier population, deeper patriotism, and individual excellence in the pursuit of collective goals.

All of these are jeopardized when there is a vacuum of leadership at the SVGFF.  It is therefore good to note that the SVGFF has moved swiftly to replace Coombs and appoint an acting president. At the same time, however, the judgment that FIFA has rendered on Coombs informs us that Coombs’ replacement must meet the highest ethical standards. It is not enough to love football.  It is not enough to have spent many years in administering football.  Instead, these attributes must be linked to the new president’s unwavering commitment to serve the public interest rather than to building a personal fiefdom for one’s own personal enrichment.  

Coombs’ fall from grace reflects not only a new modus operandus within FIFA that no longer tolerates corruption.  Rather, it underlines the fact that Coombs has been caught in the tsunami of charges launched against FIFA itself which has toppled many of FIFA’s leading figures including its former president, Sepp Blatter.  Indeed, in Trinidad, former FIFA vice president Jack Warner is currently fighting extradition to the USA where he faces criminal charges. 

FIFA has responded to these body-blows to its integrity by transforming its standards of accountability and transparency in the conduct of its business.  SVG as a minor nation within the FIFA universe has benefitted enormously from money handed out by FIFA to the local Federation to spend on the development of football in SVG.  

But until 2014, when legal regimes across the world began the investigations into financial corruption within FIFA, the organization essentially turned a blind eye to the use or mis-use of FIFA funds around the world. We now operate in a different era. The potential for financial fraud and abuse within our local sports organizations can no longer be ignored. These organizations must be subjected to greater oversight and scrutiny, especially when they benefit from funds from the public purse.

Coombs now has a distinction unique in the history of SVG.  He is the first SVGFF President to be removed from office for ethical lapses.   But if we put in place (or enforce) appropriate legal measures to respond to the threat of financial corruption within our sporting organizations, he should also be the last president of a sporting organization to be removed from office for ethical failures.