FIFA Congress overshadowed by graft storm
Print Edition
THE 64th FIFA Congress starts in Sao Paulo today with all eyes on president Sepp Blatter as football confronts its biggest corruption scandal over the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Five of FIFA’s biggest sponsors — Hyundai, Coca Cola, adidas, Sony and Visa — have all called for a proper investigation of alleged wrongdoing in the 2022 bid process.
Blatter, 78, is expected to use the football summit on the eve of the Brazil World Cup as a platform to announce that he will seek a fifth four-year term in the multi-billion dollar sport’s most powerful job. But his pronouncement is likely to be overshadowed by fallout from allegations that a former Qatari football boss paid more than US$5 million in bribes to get support for Qatar.
Qatar has strongly denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the official, Mohamed bin Hammam, had no role in its bid campaign.
Amid calls for a re-vote, FIFA investigator Michael Garcia was to finish his inquiry into the 2022 vote and the 2018 bid contest, won by Russia, yesterday.
Garcia is to speak at the Congress about his work, but his report will not be handed over to the FIFA adjudicatory chamber until mid-July, when the World Cup final is held.
FIFA’s corporate backers rarely speak out on the controversies that regularly hit international football.
Their public concerns will be a worry to Blatter and FIFA’s other top leaders.
Adidas in particular expressed concern on the impact of the allegations on football’s image. Sony said the accusations have to be “investigated appropriately”.
“We are confident that FIFA is taking these allegations seriously and that the Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee will conduct a thorough investigation,” Hyundai said.
FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil played down their statements.
He said the sponsors “have 100 percent confidence in the investigation currently being conducted”.
Experts said FIFA must now act to clean up the World Cup bidding following the statements.
“It reflects worries that the value of (the) World Cup itself could be harmed,” said Munehiko Harada, professor of sports management at Waseda University.
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