Cornel Borbély (born 1978) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

jurist. He is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and was from 2014 until 2017 the second chairman of the investigatory chamber of the

FIFA Ethics Committee The FIFA Ethics Committee is one of FIFA's three judicial bodies. It is organized in two chambers, the ''Investigatory Chamber'' and the ''Adjudicatory Chamber''. Its duties are regulated by several official documents, most importantly the ''FIFA ...

Life and education

Borbély was born in 1978 in Dürnten. After graduating from high school he worked for a major bank from 1997 to 2000 and studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

at the same time at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

. Borbély graduated in 2003 and received his doctorate in 2005, also from the University of Zurich. At the University of Lucerne, he received a degree in

forensics Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

in 2007 and a Masters in Economic Crime Investigation in 2011.

Professional career

Borbély was approved as lawyer, in the Canton of Zurich in 2006 and in the same year became Law Clerk to the prosecutor of the Canton. In 2007, he was appointed to prosecutor in charge of general criminal matters. In 2008, Borbély moved to the department for economic crime and was group leader there as of 2011. After retiring in 2014, Borbély worked as an attorney at a law firm in Zurich. In 2015, he opened his own law firm for criminal and commercial law in Zurich.

FIFA Ethics Committee

Borbély was appointed deputy chairman of the Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee in May 2013. Together with Michael J. Garcia, the chairman of the investigation chamber, he examined the allegations of corruption in connection with the awarding of the Football World Cup 2018 and 2022 to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. In order to avoid conflicts of interest for the US American Garcia, Borbély was given the main responsibility for the investigation of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in October 2013. The investigation report was submitted to the Judicial Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee in September 2014. After the resignation of Garcia as chairman of the investigation chamber, FIFA determined that Borbély was to be his successor. The FIFA Congress in May 2015 confirmed him as chairman. Together with Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber, Borbély had made a significant commitment to fight against a confidentiality clause in ongoing proceedings of the FIFA Ethics Committee and for more transparency and the right to information. In October 2015, the FIFA Executive Committee approved new rules for the disclosure of investigative information. Borbély was responsible for the investigation of high FIFA officials, like Jerome Valcke, Jeffrey Webb, Franz Beckenbauer, Eugenio Figueredo, Nicolás Leoz,

Ángel María Villar Ángel María Villar Llona (born 21 January 1950) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. After having represented Athletic Bilbao for one decade (appearing in more than 350 official matches and scoring 11 goa ...

, Jack Warner, Chung Mong-joon,

Wolfgang Niersbach Wolfgang Niersbach (born 30 November 1950) is a German sports official and former sports journalist. From 2 March 2012 until 9 November 2015, he was President of the German Football Association (, DFB). Biography Niersbach played football in yout ...

and

Theo Zwanziger Theo Zwanziger (born 6 June 1945) is a German lawyer and sports official. He was the president of the German Football Association (DFB) from 2006 to 2012. For his contributions to German football, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 2005. ...

. He was not responsible for the investigations against former FIFA President,

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

, since Blatter is also

. Borbély was represented in this case by Robert Torres from

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. Because the investigations against Blatter also concerned UEFA President

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...

, responsibility for the investigation against Platini was transferred to Vanessa Allard from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. In May 2017, he was already invited to the relevant FIFA Congress in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and, without giving reasons or in contrary to statements by Secretary-General Fatma Samoura, was informed during the arrival flight that he would not be nominated for re-election. Borbély evaluated this as a dusting on the hundreds of other cases that were pilling up on his desk, and commented, "The Code of Ethics f FIFAis now a dead piece of paper." He was succeeded by the

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n Maria Claudia Rojas.

Sports Governance Unit

Together with Hans-Joachim Eckert, the former chairman of the Judicial Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, and Marc Tenbücken, a communications expert, Borbély founded the Sports Governance Unit in November 2017, which advises sports associations, clubs and sponsors on good

governance Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...

Other activities

Borbély is deputy chief of military justice of the Swiss Air Force and lecturer in economic criminal law.

Publications

* ''Die Kostentragung in Einstellungsverfügungen'' * ''Der Grundsatz der geheimen Abstimmung'' * ''Unternehmen im Fokus von Straftätern'' * ''Datendiebstahl in einem KMU: Strafrechtliche Aspekte''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borbely, Cornel 21st-century Swiss lawyers FIFA officials People from Hinwil District University of Zurich alumni 1978 births Living people