FIFA's ethics committee says wants power to speak out

ZURICH (Reuters) - FIFA's ethics committee, responsible for investigating allegations of corruption in soccer's governing body, called on Thursday for a change in the rules the to let it release more information about ongoing investigations. The in-house watchdog has been regularly lambasted by media and other critics for refusing to give names and other data, even linked to well-known and widely reported cases. It has not released the names of individuals caught up in an inquiry into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups - names that have already appeared in newspaper and television reports across the world - citing its own privacy rules. Cornel Borbely, head of the committee's investigatory chamber, said current rules were "inconsistent with state criminal proceedings in Switzerland and Europe". “Transparency should be accorded greater importance in the future when weighing up the protection of privacy against disclosure.” The committee said it also wanted to be able to make public statements about its judgements and explain its decisions - something it is currently prevented from doing by FIFA's code of ethics. Last week, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who led the teams which inspected bids for 2018 and 2022, was banned for seven years but committee said it could not give any further details about the case. Fourteen sports marketing executives and soccer officials, including several from FIFA, were indicted in the United States in late May on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges. (Reporting by Katharine Bart; Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Andrew Heavens)