Ex-Portuguese minister to head EU review of football

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Jose Luis Arnaut, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal, has been selected to head a review board looking into how football is run across the European Union. The enquiry is scheduled to be completed at the end of May and will look into how European football authorities, EU institutions and members can best implement the Nice Declaration on the specific characteristics of sport at European and national level.

Arnaut’s appointment comes two months after the review was first proposed by Richard Caborn, under the British presidency of the EU, at a meeting in Leipzig attended by FIFA boss Sepp Blatter. Caborn announced earlier this month that someone outside of football would lead the inquiry. “This is the first important step in delivering a Europe-wide review of football and bringing about genuine change in the way football operates,” Caborn said before confirming that three other high profile people will be appointed to oversee the three sub-committees of the review: political, financial and legal.

Arnaut was scheduled to take up the position on Feb. 22. He is a practicing lawyer and currently chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Portuguese Parliament. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Sport under then-Portuguese PM Jose Manuel Barroso. Arnaut was also involved in Portugal’s successful hosting of the 2004 European Championships.