Governance of the global game, sustainable business in Latin America and what a real smart phone looks like

For many fans of many sports, this time of year means one thing: the start of the new season, not least for European football. To mark this, in the first of a two-part investigation into ethics in football, we focus on the governance of the world game, and in particular how the organisation at the top – Fifa – conducts itself.

Even a casual observer will have struggled to avoid the seemingly endless number of scandals and corruption allegations that have dogged Fifa for the past few years.

Senior members of the committees that award host nations the World Cup – and all the potential profits – have been accused of soliciting and accepting payments to swing their support a particular direction. Court documents have emerged implicating former officials, including a past Fifa president, in taking bribes before awarding broadcasting rights.

And there have been other strange goings-on. Not least among these was the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the tiny Gulf state of Qatar – to many a bizarre move, for many reasons, not least the nation’s geographical location.

Reluctant reform

Fifa’s leadership did, albeit reluctantly, set in motion a reform effort in 2011, and improvements do seem to have been made. But the organisation has yet to implement all the recommendations of the group Fifa itself set up to look into its murky governance.

Football is of course big business, and many big brands are long-standing “partners” with Fifa. While they are not implicated in any of the allegations, of course, there are inevitably reputational risks being associated with such a tangled web. Next issue we will take a look at the domestic game around the world. 

Elsewhere this month we have the first in a series of regional briefings, this time on Latin America. While sustainable business is definitely on the agenda for companies across the region, it’s fairly clear that, for now, there isn’t yet a unified approach that reflects how business has developed. There are some exciting local leaders, alongside regional subsidiaries of big US or European multinationals, to set the sustainability pace.

Interventionist governments have historically been a challenge for international companies setting up new businesses in the region. But equally, there are opportunities where governments are willing to establish corporate environments where social responsibility is rewarded.

Smart startup

In strategy and management we have a great case study on Fairphone, a Netherlands-based startup that has developed a sustainable and ethically-sourced smartphone, which competes on style, performance and pricing terms with other handsets on the market. While it is still early days, the company is a great example of what can be achieved – and that sustainable business models work.   

We also have all the regular columns and analysis, and reviews of the latest reporting from Volkswagen and Delta. As always, please do get in touch if you have any comments or suggestions for future things we should investigate.

Editor review  Ian Welsh  magazine analysis