Former Commerce chief: FIFA scandal shows need for more supervision in sports

“We have a problem. We should open up about this,” Gutierrez said in his remarks at the Organization of American States in Washington.

The FIFA scandal, which has tainted soccer’s international governing body and has rocked the sports world at large, includes 47 indictments handed down from the U.S. Department of Justice. The indictment accuses high-ranking FIFA officials of taking bribes and kickbacks from marketing and television executives,and includes charges of racketeering, money laundering, and wire fraud.

Gutierrez said the scandal should be a call for aggressive action in ending corruption in sports. Gutierrez, who now works at a strategic advisory company, called for further supervision over the sports industry but did not offer specific policy or regulatory suggestions.

Another area of concern is the increasing amount of terrorists looking to wreak havoc at major sporting events, assistant director of Homeland Security Alan Bersin said at the conference on security and economics in sports.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, large sporting events have been targeted as places to create havoc and terror, he said. Good “pre-game” preparation by international officials with the help of the private sector has kept terrorists and criminals out of major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics.

However, he called on the sports industry and its governing bodies to invest more in the development of stronger metal detectors and facial recognition technology to further enhance security at events.

Bersin said keeping guns, bombs and other weapons out of events is the “most challenging element of the security regime.”

He urged American sports fans to stay alert at events, holding to the principle of “see something, say something.”

“We must deputize all of our fans to become police officers.”