Story highlights
FIFA nominates Luis Moreno-Ocampo to lead its anti-corruption unit
He is best known for war crimes charges against Libya's Moammar Gadhafi
Allegations of corruption rocked FIFA's governing body last year.
World soccer’s governing body FIFA has nominated the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, to be its lead anti-corruption investigator, FIFA said Tuesday.
The Argentinian prosecutor is best known for pursuing war crimes charges against Libya’s late Moammar Gadhafi and the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir.
Moreno-Ocampo’s term with the ICC ends in June.
News of his nomination comes a day after police in Italy arrested at least 19 people, including Lazio team captain Stefano Mauri, in connection with a match-fixing investigation – the latest scandal to plague international soccer.
Allegations of corruption also rocked FIFA’s governing body last year.
Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam was banned from the game for life after being found guilty of corruption for trying to buy votes in the FIFA presidential election with $40,000 in cash inducements to Caribbean football officials last year. Also, the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively won by Russia and Qatar, came under scrutiny after allegations of improper conduct.
In March, FIFA pledged to reform its governance structure to address concerns about corruption.
The proposed changes included splitting the organization’s ethics committee into two entities, one to investigate allegations and another to rule on them.