Fired FIFA ethics officials set up advice agency in Zurich

German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, left, and Swiss prosecutor Cornel Borbely as they speak after a FIFA ethics press conference in Manama. (Rob Harris/AP)

ZURICH — The judge and prosecutor removed from FIFA’s ethics committee in May have set up an agency to advise on integrity in sports.

The new Sports Governance Unit says German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and Swiss prosecutor Cornel Borbely will lead the Zurich-based firm.

The agency says “fans and sponsors expect more and more transparency and organizational governance standards.”

Eckert and Borbely were effectively fired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the soccer body’s congress in Bahrain.

Amid reports Infantino was being investigated for possible wrongdoing, the move was seen as attacking the independence of an ethics committee that had banned several senior officials since 2012, including then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

The new agency will “advise associations, clubs, sponsors and governments on issues in the context of good governance, integrity and compliance.”

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