The split between UEFA and FUT 15 Coins president Sepp Blatter has widened after
reports the world governing body watered down a report into reform
proposals.
German magazine Der Spiegel has reported that criticism of Blatter by
independent governance committee chairman Mark Pieth was removed from his final
report by FIFA's legal adviser Marco Villiger.
The report has led Pedro Pinto, spokesman for UEFA president Michel Platini,
to issue a statement criticising the interference.
He said: "The latest revelations regarding the Pieth report show that FIFA's
independent governance committee was anything but independent.
"UEFA has always wondered why it was criticised by Mr Pieth and wrongly
accused of blocking FIFA reforms. Now we understand why and where it all came
from."
Blatter is being challenged by three UEFA-backed candidates for the election
in May, Dutchman Michael van Praag, Portugal's former international Luis Figo
and FIFA's Asian vice-president, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
Der Spiegel claim that passages in Pieth's final report were changed to
remove comments about Blatter's role in the ISL corruption scandal where former
FIFA president Joao Havelange and several other senior FIFA figures were
revealed to have been paid bribes by FIFA's former marketing partner.
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Pieth had raised issues about Blatter's "leadership responsibilities" as well
as his "possible complicity in the scandal", according to Der Spiegel, who said
Pieth submitted a 15-page draft of his report and Villiger returned it two weeks
later with 37 notes and various deletions.
Pieth told Der Spiegel he was aware of the changes.
