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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday June 4, 2015
FBI to investigate Russia, Qatar World Cup bids By Mark Hosenball and Katharina Bart NEW YORK/ZURICH, (Reuters) - The FBI’s investigation of alleged corruption at FIFA includes scrutiny of how football’s governing body awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 competition to Qatar, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The review would be part of a probe that goes beyond the allegations of bribery in a U.S. indictment of FIFA officials announced a week ago, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. U.S. authorities said at the time they were investigating a $150M (£98M) bribery case while Swiss prosecutors announced their own criminal inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 bids. Russia and Qatar have denied wrongdoing in the conduct of their bids. In the case of Qatar, there was some surprise that the tournament was awarded to a small desert country with no real football tradition and where daytime summer temperatures can top 40 degrees Celsius (104F). Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said there was no way Qatar would be stripped of its right to host the cup because it had had the best bid.
Michel Platini
Diego Maradona
Zico
“It is very difficult for some to digest that an Arab Islamic country has this tournament, as if this right can’t be for an Arab state,” he told Reuters in an interview in Paris. “I believe it is because of prejudice and racism that we have this bashing campaign against Qatar.” For its part, Russia dismissed concerns it might lose the right to host the cup. “Cooperation with FIFA is going on and, most importantly, Russia is continuing preparations for the 2018 World Cup,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. Among issues the FBI is examining is the stewardship of FIFA by its longtime president Sepp Blatter, who unexpectedly announced on Tuesday he was resigning shortly before it emerged that he too was under investigation by U.S. law enforcement.
U.S. authorities said last week that their investigation would continue. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said when she announced the indictments that the Department of Justice looked forward to continuing to work with other countries, while the case prosecutor Kelly Currie said the indictment was not the final chapter in their investigation. A source close to FIFA said it was Blatter’s advisers who had told him he must quit. Critics pointed to the widening criminal probe, disquiet among sponsors, and pressure from European football body UEFA as possible reasons. Earlier, the international police organisation Interpol put two former top FIFA officials on its wanted list at the request of U.S. authorities. Interpol issued wanted person alerts for Jack
Warner, a former president of CONCACAF, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, and Nicolas Leoz, the ex-head of South America’s football federation. The others subject to the “red notices” - which are not arrest warrants - are Alejandro Burzaco, Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, and Jose Margulies, a Brazilian who headed two companies involved in broadcasting football matches. They are among FIFA officials and sports media and promotion executives named in the U.S. indictment.
South Africa denies $10M World Cup bribe SOUTH Africa has denied paying a $10M bribe to secure the 2010 World Cup, in the wake of a U.S. inquiry into corruption at world football body FIFA. Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula said the money in question was above board and intended to support football in the African Diaspora in the Caribbean. The FIFA scandal erupted last week when U.S. prosecutors indicted 14 persons. On Tuesday, president Sepp Blatter said he was to step down, just days after he had been re-elected for a fifth term. Of the 14 persons indicted by the U.S. on charges of racketeering and money-laundering, seven were senior FIFA officials, including two vice-presidents. The seven were arrested in Switzerland as they awaited the FIFA congress that re-elected Mr Blatter and are currently awaiting extradition to the U.S. The U.S. Justice Department alleges the 14 accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150M (£97M) over a 24-year period U.S. officials quoted in the New York Times also said on Tuesday that Mr Blatter, 79, was under investigation as part of the inquiry. They said they hoped some of the FIFA figures charged would help to build a case against him. INTERPOL ALERTS U.S. officials allege South Africa paid a $10M bribe in exchange for support for its 2010 World Cup bid from former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and several other members of the North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). But in a press conference yesterday, Mr Mbalula said South Africa “categorically denied” the allegation, adding that the money went towards an approved programme to help the development of football in the Caribbean. The money went into a fund controlled by Mr Warner. (BBC Sport)
BRIBE DENIED FIFA has denied that another senior official, Secretary General Jerome Valcke, was involved in a $10M (£7M) payment approved by the South African Football Association that lies at the
heart of the U.S. investigation. At a news conference in Johannesburg, sports minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed the payment to Warner during South Africa’s successful bid for the 2010 World Cup but denied it was a bribe. Mbalula said the cash was intended for football development in the Caribbean, Warner’s home region. Valcke said yesterday he was not guilty of corrupt practice relating to the payment and he saw no reason to resign. U.S. legal authorities announced last week they are investigating alleged bribery and corruption at FIFA going back 24 years at the same time as Swiss prosecutors revealed their probe into the award of the next two World Cups. Blatter announced his decision to step down on Tuesday - six days after police raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials, and four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as president. Blatter has not been charged and FIFA did not respond to a request for comment on his being under investigation. An election to choose a new president will probably not take place until at least December. Blatter, meanwhile, remains in his position.
FIFA executive committee member Kozo Tashima of Japan told Japanese media that Blatter should go at once. LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES Among potential candidates to lead FIFA, UEFA chief Michel Platini, a former French international football star, is the favourite. Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, who withdrew from last week’s presidential election after winning 73 votes to Blatter’s 133 in the first round, stopped short of confirming he would run again. Asked if there should be a fresh start at FIFA, he told Britain’s Channel 4 News: “I’m willing to help.” Chung Mong-joon, billionaire scion of South Korea’s Hyundai conglomerate, said he would consider running. Possible candidates also include Domenico Scala, the independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee. Others could include former Brazil international Zico, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, Jerome Champagne, a former French diplomat and FIFA deputy secretary-general, and German Wolfgang Niersbach, an ex-media chief at FIFA.
Pele wants ‘honest’ FIFA
BRAZILIAN football legend Pele has called for “honest people” to clean up world football here after the shock resignation of FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter. Speaking to the BBC on the sidelines of the New York Cosmos friendly match with Cuba in Havana, the 74-year-old three-time World Cup winner said FIFA must change after the corruption scandal that has rocked football’s governing body. Pele, who had previously voiced support for Blatter following his re-election, described the football chief’s stunning fall from power as “unfortunate.” “Everybody asks about Sepp Blatter,” Pele told the BBC. Of course, everybody was very surprised, not with Sepp Blatter but with FIFA. I mentioned before he was the president for 20 years, unfortunately what happened, happened with everyone. Brazilian football legend Pele My position is, like a player, I want to see football put people together and stop wars. That’s my position. What happened with the corruption this is not my problem.” FIFA now faced a critical period as it seeks to clean up its image. It’s an important time for FIFA. FIFA must change now as it moves forward.” “I think everything in life changes. Football changes, life changes. It’s important to have honest people. To organise anything you have to have good people,” he signed off. Pele was in Cuba to attend his former club’s landmark game with Cuba, the first visit to the Communist-ruled island by a professional American sports team for 16 years. The Cosmos ran out 4-1 winners.