FIFA likened to mafia by British peer David Triesman

FIFA has been accused of acting like a mafia family by former Football Association chief David Triesman.

The British peer told the upper house of parliament that the governing body is rife with corruption, comparing its president Sepp Blatter to The Godfather protagonist Vito Corleone.

"FIFA, I'm afraid, behaves like a mafia family. It has a decades-long tradition of bribes, bungs and corruption," Reuters quotes Triesman as saying.

FIFA is under pressure over corruption allegations surrounding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, while Blatter has encountered opposition in his bid to stand for a fifth term.

"Don Corleone, I believe, would have recognised the tactics and he probably would have admired them," Triesman said of Blatter's practices.

Triesman will not face any possible legal action over his remakes as they were made to the British parliament, granting him "parliamentary privilege" protection.