Swiss parliament votes on law to bring FIFA, others, under scrutiny (Reuters)
By Stephanie Nebehay BERN (Reuters) – Swiss lawmakers gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to a law to make it easier to investigate corruption allegations at sporting bodies located in Switzerland, a vote that coincided with the worst scandal to ever hit soccer’s ruling body FIFA. The law would end a system under which FIFA, and roughly 60 other sporting bodies based there, are immune from investigation by Swiss authorities when instances of corruption are deemed an internal matter with no impact the wider public interest. It would affect bodies included the International Olympic Committee and the International Cycling Union, but is so closely associated with the soccer body that it has been dubbed “Lex FIFA” (“the FIFA Law”) due to longstanding concerns that scandals at the Zurich-based organization would eventually taint Switzerland’s international reputation.