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Wednesday was a hugely revealing day – not just for FIFA, but for football the world over. As we reported earlier, after years of corruption allegations and assertions, a number of top FIFA officials have been arrested on charges related to money laundering, fraud and racketeering.
In total nine FIFA officials and four executives of sports management companies have been arrested.
More:
» Authorities take one step in cleaning up football
» It’s time Blatter’s cronies developed a conscience
» FIFA corruption scandal – who’s been arrested and what did they do
» US Feds raid FIFA hotel, arrest officials>
The Guardian reports that the nine parties charged are Jack Warner, Jeffrey Webb, Eugenio Figueredo, Julio Rocha, Eduardo Li, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin, Costas Takkas, Nicolás Leoz.
FIFA’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Walter De Gregorio, said, “as to the names that were published in the media this morning, I am unable to comment…”
The bribes at the centre of the investigation are now estimated to be in the vicinity of $US150 million ($AU194 million).
While investigators have stressed that the allegations are not in relation to current president Sepp Blatter, and that they don’t directly relate to the processes of the upcoming 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar respectively, the process for awarding the two Cups is now under greater scrutiny.
Reports indicate that Swiss officials intend to investigate the process of awarding those two World Cups, including the conduct of those at the very high echelons of the FIFA hierarchy.
Late yesterday FIFA were careful to issue a press release noting that Blatter was “not involved at all” (FIFA also released a press release, referring to themselves as “injured party”, which you can read in full below).
However, as indicated by the US lawyer acting for investigators, there appear to be plenty more revelations ahead in the investigation, saying, “It’s only just beginning.”
FIFA also held a press conference, which you can watch in full below.
The revelations come at an inconvenient time for Blatter, who is seeking re-election to his post on Friday, and was widely tipped to retain the presidency. His only rival, Jordanian Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein, has alleged that he was approached by a man who guaranteed al-Hussein votes in the upcoming election, in return for a bribe.
While the current revelations out of Zurich appear to just be the tip of the iceberg, the process relating to the awarding of the upcoming World Cups – in which Australia participated but was eliminated – has been under scrutiny for some time, with a range of allegations of corruption at varying levels of the association.
Furthermore, controversy about the weather when holding a summer World Cup in Qatar – where the mercury regularly reaches 50 degrees – led to FIFA rescheduling the event to winter, an idea not even contemplated under the original bidding process.
Stay with The Roar for further updates as events unfold.
Statement: FIFA is fully cooperating as injured party in the actions by Swiss authorities
FIFA welcomes actions that can help contribute to rooting out any wrongdoing in football. We understand that today’s actions by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice on behalf of the US authorities and the Swiss Office of the Attorney General (initiated by FIFA through the submission of the file on the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process) relate to different matters.
Firstly, the arrest of six individuals this morning in Zurich concerns investigations by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of the State of New York. The Swiss authorities, acting on behalf of their US counterparts, arrested the individuals for activities carried out in relation with CONCACAF and CONMEBOL business.
The second instance follows FIFA’s initiative of presenting the file on the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup™ bidding process to the Swiss Office of the Attorney General in November 2014. The authorities are taking the opportunity of the FIFA Congress to interview those FIFA Executive Committee members who are not Swiss residents who voted back in 2010 and are still in office.
Today, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General announced that it has opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown in relation to the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup™ bidding process. FIFA is fully cooperating with the investigation and is supporting the collection of evidence in this regard. As noted by the Swiss authorities, this collection of evidence is being carried out on a cooperative basis.
We are pleased to see that the investigation is being energetically pursued for the good of football and believe that it will help to reinforce measures that FIFA has already taken.
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