"BBC": Transparency International cuts FIFA ties.

Transparency International withdrew its assistance to international soccer’s governing body on Dec. 1, BBC reported.

The Berlin-based anti-corruption group had been a consultant on a reform plan from Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, as the body tries to distance itself from a myriad of scandals.

It broke off the relationship because a committee tasked with guiding reform, led by Mark Pieth, won’t look into the allegations of impropriety in the past and because FIFA is paying Pieth, said Sylvia Schenk, Transparency International’s sports adviser, who spoke to Bloomberg and the AP.

“All members of the commission are supposed to be independent,” Schenk  said to Bloomberg. “You can’t be independent if you have a contract with FIFA.”

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, the president of FIFA, praised Schenk’s work when he announced the reform roadmap in October. But on Thursday FIFA declined to comment to the AP, and didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg.

Pieth, meanwhile said to Bloomberg he was “cheesed off” by Schenk’s remarks, and told AP that his credibility isn’t damaged by a FIFA paycheck. He said that his committee needed Transparency International’s input.

But Schenk said to AP that FIFA neglected the recommendations it made in a reportoutlining the reforms it would need to make in order to regain credibility. Among those reforms was the need to investigate the voting process for who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments, which were won amid scandal by Russia and Qatar, respectively.

“For us, it is essential to look into the past and get into the allegations,” she said to AP.