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FFA says its 2022 bid was above board

3rd June, 2014
24

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has rejected suggestions it acted improperly during its bid to host the World Cup in 2022.

Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that former FFA corporate affairs manager Bonita Mersiades had been flown to the US to be interviewed about the way Australia sought to win the backing of soccer chiefs in 2010.

The report quoted Mersiades as saying the FFA didn’t report the alleged theft of $A500,000 by former FIFA official Jack Warner that was supposed to be used for a stadium upgrade in Trinidad and Tobago.

Mersiades said that the FFA had been concerned that in doing so it would expose its own risky strategy of handing out international development grants to corrupt football bodies as it sought to gain favour and ultimately hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup.

But the FFA said all its expenditure for the failed bid was on the public record and the Australian government, football bodies and FIFA’s chief investigator of the scandal-plagued 2022 World Cup bidding process had all been informed about the missing funds.

“In September 2010 FFA donated $A500,000 for a feasibility study to be undertaken on the (Trinidad and Tobago) project and deposited those funds in CONCACAF’s (the North, Central American and Caribbean football association, of which Warner was president) bank account and received confirmation of this from that bank,” the FFA statement said.

“In February 2013 FFA were contacted by CONCACAF and informed that CONCACAF had initiated an Integrity Committee enquiry into a number of matters including certain activities of the former president of CONCACAF.

FFA provided all relevant information to that inquiry which in April 2013 concluded that the funds paid by FFA into CONCACAF’s bank account had been misappropriated by the former President of CONCACAF.

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The FFA said it was awaiting the outcome of FIFA’s inquiry before taking further action.

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