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FIFA WORLD FOOTB<strong>ALL</strong> MUSEUM<br />
PRESIDENTIAL NOTE<br />
FIFA World Football Museum<br />
now in home straight<br />
Reform must be global<br />
Olivier Morin / AFP<br />
Inspection Alessandro Del Piero (left) and Marta visit the construction site.<br />
Major construction work has been underway in Zurich since March<br />
2014, with FIFA Museum AG building the FIFA World Football<br />
Museum at the very heart of the city. Work on the interior of the<br />
museum began in September, with fitting-out work currently being<br />
undertaken on all three exhibition levels in order to install the complex<br />
background technology for more than 1,000 exclusive exhibits.<br />
The museum will boast an interactive world of experiences with no<br />
fewer than 60 screens, but it is the installation of the unique pinball<br />
machine that is particularly challenging.<br />
“I can’t wait to see the Museum. We are creating a special meeting<br />
place, because it will bring shared memories and emotions to life,<br />
and therefore bring the whole international football family together,”<br />
said FIFA President Sepp Blatter.<br />
The start of the interior fitting-out phase means that the FIFA<br />
World Football Museum has now entered the home straight. “It is<br />
great that work has finally begun on the inside of the museum,” said<br />
Stefan Jost, CEO of FIFA Museum AG. “Everything that we have only<br />
known from plans so far is now beginning to take shape.” Another<br />
person working at full steam at the moment is Creative Director<br />
David Ausseil: “There is still a lot to do. Apart from installing the<br />
complex technology, we also need to check all of the museum’s content<br />
to make sure that there are no mistakes, review all of the translations,<br />
and also finalise all of the video material.” Work on the interior<br />
of the museum will be finished by the end of October, which is<br />
when an intensive test phase will begin for all areas of the museum.<br />
Nevertheless, Stefan Jost is still confident that “we will be able to<br />
open the museum in the first quarter of 2016”.<br />
Once complete, the Museum will boast an exhibition area measuring<br />
more than 3,000m 2 over three levels, covering all aspects of<br />
the world of football. An interactive, multimedia world of experiences<br />
will give visitors the chance to look at the emotions that football<br />
awakens on a daily basis all around the world, thrilling people and<br />
shaping their lives. Å<br />
tfw<br />
FIFA’s 2011 reforms helped us to establish a stronger foundation for<br />
the governance of football around the world. However, the highly<br />
regrettable events this year have made it painfully clear those<br />
changes have not been enough.<br />
While most of the recommended 2011 reforms were approved by<br />
a global vote at the FIFA Congress, they have not been embraced in<br />
full throughout the framework responsible for the day-to-day control<br />
of football around the world. We must put this right, once and for<br />
all, with water-tight reforms and a genuine commitment from all<br />
football administrators.<br />
We need to show that we understand the severity of this situation<br />
and that we are ready to take the right steps to fix it.<br />
But FIFA cannot achieve this change in football alone. We need<br />
the full cooperation of the six confederations, our member associations<br />
and national authorities. FIFA supports the actions of the U.S.<br />
and Swiss authorities and we will continue to do so, no matter how<br />
close to home those investigations get. This is the difficult path we<br />
must follow if we are serious about change.<br />
I am confident that Dr. Francois Carrard and the 2016 Reform<br />
Committee will deliver a credible package of reforms with the substance<br />
to help us restore credibility and trust. The independent<br />
chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee Domenico<br />
Scala has put forward a strong list of proposals to FIFA which has<br />
helped to set the tone and direction of this next phase of reforms.<br />
I expect all member associations to fully support this reform<br />
process at the Extraordinary Congress in February. To fail to do so<br />
would represent a betrayal of our institution, of football and of the<br />
millions of fans around the world that rightly expect the highest<br />
standards from those managing the game.<br />
Our goal must be to give FIFA, the institution, the opportunity<br />
to move forward next year and to build on the progress we have<br />
achieved in staging competitions and developing football around the<br />
world since 1904. If we do not act now, we will be putting all of that<br />
work at risk.<br />
Best wishes, Sepp Blatter<br />
THE FIFA WEEKLY<br />
23
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