International Business Times
September 28, 2015

by Thomas Barrabi

As Sepp Blatter’s long, dubious run at FIFA’s helm appears near its conclusion this week amid a Swiss criminal investigation, his former ally-turned-likely-successor, Michel Platini, hasn’t escaped the fallout. The allegations of financial impropriety could finally unseat Blatter before FIFA’s special presidential election next February, but experts are skeptical the latest allegations against Platini will be enough to end his bid to replace his former mentor.

The FIFA executive arm’s old guard is in utter disarray. Blatter, already scheduled to step down in February, Monday refused to leave office any sooner. His refusal came even as authorities investigated various allegations, including whether he willfully mishandled a FIFA media rights deal and the circumstances behind a $2 million payment to Platini in 2011. The FIFA Ethics Committee is conducting its own investigation into their actions. Critics are openly questioning how Blatter can remain in office when he is the target of a criminal investigation — and whether Platini is a fit candidate to replace him.

While Blatter and Platini have each denied any wrongdoing, the public fallout should, under normal circumstances, be enough to deliver a death blow to Platini’s bid to spearhead reform as FIFA’s next president. But with FIFA’s election still months away and the organization’s murky history of dealing with corruption at its highest levels, it will come as no surprise if Platini stays in the race.

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“Everyone else, from [banned former FIFA executive] Mohammad bin Hamman to Jerome Valcke, has been suspended upon allegations,” Roger Pielke Jr., an expert on FIFA’s corruption scandal and a professor at the University of Colorado, said. “Valcke hasn’t been found guilty of anything, but he was suspended. If they were to allow Blatter to remain and everyone else plays by different rules — number one, it’s typical FIFA. But on the other hand, it would be a surprise.”

What’s less clear is how the allegations will affect Platini. He is currently listed as a witness in the Swiss probe into Blatter, and it’s unclear if he’ll face a separate investigation.

As sitting president of the Union of European Football Associations and a member of FIFA’s executive committee, Platini is one of the international soccer community’s most powerful figures. Prior to last week’s allegations, he was considered the clear favorite to win the special election in February. By Sunday, oddsmakers had decided Platini would likely lose, Reuters reported.

With sponsor and public scrutiny at an all-time high, FIFA appears desperate to shed its reputation as a hopelessly corrupt organization and keep the money train rolling. If Platini’s name continues to be associated with criminal probes and shady exchanges of money, it’s unlikely he’ll escape the pre-election vetting process unscathed.

Then again, FIFA is the same organization that re-elected Blatter this year mere hours after several of its most powerful executives were simultaneously arrested.

“FIFA continuously tests the limits of our imagination,” Pielke said. Read more …

University World News
September 19, 2015

by Jan Petter Myklebust

More than 150 names have been put forward for membership of the high level group of scientific advisors being created under a new system for providing independent scientific advice in European Commission, or EC, policy-making.

Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for research, science and innovation, said in a speech at the European Parliament last Tuesday that consultation for nominations has just closed and the response has been “extremely positive”.

An identification committee will now propose members by the end of October and the Commissioner expects the group to be up and running by the end of the year.

The role of the group will be to ensure that the Commission has the best available scientific advice, wherever it comes from,” he said. “It should guarantee the quality and independence of the advice provided. It should help identify topics where independent advice is needed.”

In his speech, Moedas stressed that independent scientific advice was needed to inform policy-makers.

“We want to be sure that decisions on the safety of new medicines, novel foods, new technologies and so on, are based on facts and not fiction. We want to ensure we take the right decisions in a crisis. We want to ensure that the evidence on which we base our decisions is robust and unbiased,” he said.

An important experiment

Professor Roger Pielke, director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado, told University World News that the SAM was a highly visible, important experiment in the design and implementation of a science advisory body and “a lot of people are watching carefully how this experiment goes”.

“The Commission already has an in-house science service in the Joint Research Centre so integrating the new SAM with the already existing commission expertise and capabilities, if successful, could really lead to a positive innovation in the advisory process.”

Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities, said the league had submitted the names of 15 or so candidates for the high-level group and looked forward to a “clever selection” with “attention paid to creating a balanced composition taking into account disciplines, regions, gender and age, so that we have a representative group, really able to advise the EC in a clever way”.  Read more …