What does a global organization do when its star performer leaves the company after being given carte blanche to do what he likes? Can mobile technology bring order?

FIFA’s former President Sepp Blatter left suddenly, with no handover meeting and he’s not returning messages.

One minute he was omnipresent – the next he was omni-absent. That is one of the anomalies of the digital age. It doesn’t matter how many channels you have if the boss doesn’t communicate.

Like many exceptional mavericks, Sepp had his own way of doing things. You know the type, their attitude seems to be: to hell with the paperwork – and if the devil won’t have it, you can be sure the FBI will be interested.

What lessons can we learn from this saga?

We can only speculate at this stage, but it would be quite understandable if FIFA’s Compliance Officer is feeling pretty upset at this difficult time.

What popular entertainment tells us about these unconventional free spirits, who don’t do things by the book, is that they get results. The hero of every Hollywood film or TV show in the twentieth century is a man like Sepp. They’re usually described as ‘Cops with a Difference’, who walk the tight rope of crime in the mean streets of Big Town. They are portrayed as popular heroes because, despite the fact that they break all the rules, they get results.

So unless you are of retirement age, your mindset in your formative years will have been forged by the dominant influence of a culture that says money takes precedent over everything else.

Sepp may not have liked paper trails, due process and audits – but boy, could he deliver world cups to new and unconventional sources. OK he might not have crossed all the T’s and dotted the I’s, but he knew how to run an election. At the end of the day, the sponsorship deals kept rolling in.

Could Sepp have been a bit more dutiful though?

Many of his admirers will point out that Sepp kept a very clean channel. In fact, one of the complaints against him is that money was laundered… ok that was a rather silly pun!

Sepp also achieved growth in markets that nobody else had the vision to spot. Who would have imagined that Qatar could emerge as a superpower in world football? As his admirers would say – Sepp has currency. You really have to hand it to him!

However, is it possible that, despite the mobile nature of the business, many of the transactions that took place could have been more scrupulously documented?

Absolutely, says compliance expert William Brown, Blackthorn Technologies’ product director. “Defined internal controls and practices are essential, especially when large financial payments are transferred internationally,” says Brown.

Regulations such as the UK Anti-Bribery Act, US Patriot Act or the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) all stipulate that senior management are culpable for any unethical actions within any organization. So audit trails of all financial transactions are obligatory. Even if a lot of business is being conducted on the road, in hotels and restaurants, away from the back office.

Though he hates to stand on ceremony, Sepp should have swallowed his pride and observed the Know Your Customer (KYC) and due-diligence processes.

When revelations about FIFA appeared in UK newspaper The Sunday Times, it must surely have become apparent that this mobile, agile and global organization was leaking data. This is very common, according to Verizon’s 2014 Data Breach Investigations Report. Nine out of ten (88 per cent) security incidents are a result of privilege abuse and 70 per cent intellectual property theft is an inside job, says the study. The source of the FIFA data breaches must be investigated.

No matter how good Sepp was at his job, there is always one disgruntled employee.

Studies by US academics and government bodies, have identified behaviour risk indicators, such as employees being self centred, having a sense of entitlement and being intolerant of criticism. Did Sepp leave, perhaps, because he felt he was undervalued? Was someone jealous of Sepp’s success, feelings which inspired that person to leak information?

“Those least likely to go rogue will work well with others, display genuine warmth and compassion and can express their anger and frustration appropriately,” says Chris Sullivan, VP Advanced Solutions at security firm Courion. An examination of mobile technology may be illuminating for FIFA in future, according to Steve Haworth, TeleWare’s CEO.

“People in FIFA almost always do their deals on mobile devices as they‎ are constantly travelling. Keeping records of conversations and text messages of all agreements could have highlighted issues,” Haworth, “potentially it could have been protection for those who may have been pressured to follow the herd.”