Ex-soccer chief tells of bribes to buy World Cups
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A CORRUPTION scandal engulfing soccer’s governing body escalated yesterday as one suspect told of World Cup bribes and another promised to reveal an “avalanche” of secrets, including about FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
South African police said they had opened an investigation into claims money was paid to secure the 2010 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Australian police are looking into their country’s bid for the 2022 event and in Venezuela investigators raided the country’s football headquarters.
Following the shock resignation of Blatter on Tuesday, focus has shifted to the US investigation which led to the arrest of seven FIFA officials last week.
Evidence given by ailing whistleblower Chuck Blazer to US investigators tells of attempts to buy the 1998 and 2010 World Cups hosted by France and South Africa respectively.
Now battling cancer in hospital, the disgraced former North American football supremo said in testimony released by prosecutors that FIFA executives conspired to accept bribes during bidding for the 1998 and 2010 events.
Blazer has admitted to charges related to his leadership of the North and Central American body CONCACAF and membership of FIFA’s executive committee.
In a plea deal with US prosecutors, the 70-year-old agreed to wear a microphone and record conversations with other FIFA officials. None of the other suspects is named.
“Among other things, I agreed with other persons in or around 1992 to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup,” Blazer said in his plea.
France beat Morocco in the bidding to stage that tournament. The charges say that Blazer was present when a co-conspirator accepted a bribe in Morocco.
Blazer also admitted that he and “others on the FIFA executive committee” agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa to host the World Cup in 2010.
South African officials have denied allegations by US investigators that they paid US$10 million in bribes in 2008 to secure the rights.
The money allegedly went to Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice-president and another former CONCACAF head. He was suspended by the world body in 2011 for corruption.
From his home in Trinidad and Tobago, Warner promised to tell an “avalanche” of secrets. He said he had a file which “deals with my knowledge of international transactions at FIFA, including Blatter and Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister.”
Warner is one of 14 football officials and sports marketing officials charged over more than US$150 million in bribes.
A special South African police unit said yesterday that it was looking into the bribery claims following a request from an opposition party.
Venezuelan prosecutors raided the headquarters of the country’s football federation, whose leader Rafael Esquivel is one of the seven FIFA officials held in Switzerland.
In parallel to the US inquiry, Swiss prosecutors are looking into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar.
Australian police said they were looking into corruption claims around Australia’s failed 2022 bid, with Football Federation Australia Chairman Frank Lowy saying FIFA’s handling of the tournament was “not clean.”
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