The Latest On The FIFA Corruption Scandal
By Sean Maslin
For years it was near difficult to get any information out of FIFA that wasn’t about a soccer match? Now it seems like every day there is something new and potentially damaging coming out about the international footballing organization.
Let’s try and sift through all of the news this week:
Sepp Blatter finally got himself an American lawyer. With his plea bargain now officially unsealed, it seems that Blatter is finally taking the United States Department of Justice indictment seriously. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Blatter has hired former federal prosecutor Richard Cullen to represent him in DoJ’s probe of FIFA. Cullen represents the law firm McGuire Woods, which is one of the top law firms in Washington D.C.
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke has also picked up legal counsel, retaining the services of Barry Berk a New York-based lawyer who has represented JP Morgan Chase, among many other clients. Valcke in particular is being looked at for his alleged knowledge of a $10 million payment from the South African Football Federation to Caribbean officials to help secure the 2010 World Cup bid. U.S. prosecutors have claimed that this particular transfer of funds was a bribe.
Now obviously both Blatter and Valcke were going to retain counsel. The charges against FIFA seem to be mounting and with Switzerland’s recent corruption probe (more on that below) it appears that Blatter’s reign above FIFA will be coming to an end. Despite all of the alleged mischief that has gone on during Blatter’s reign he does have the right to council.
Swiss corruption probe identifies money laundering
Perhaps the most important news in relation to the FIFA scandal did not even occur in the United States. On Wednesday Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber announced that Swiss banks had reported 52 possible incidents of money laundering by FIFA.
In a news conference Lauber announced that “We note positively that banks in Switzerland did fulfil their duties to file suspicious activity reports. Partly in addition to the 104 banking relations already known to the authorities, banks announced 53 suspicious banking relations via the anti-money-laundering framework of Switzerland.”
While the American criminal proceedings have grabbed the headlines it is the investigation in Switzerland that may be a greater concern for FIFA. In particular Swiss authorities are focusing on the bidding process for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022. Earlier in the month, Swiss authorities stormed FIFA headquarters and confiscated computers, documents, and over nine terabytes of data. It should be noted that oth Russia and Qatar, the winners of these bids, have denied any wrongdoing.
While the trial in the United States might be the sexier trial with all of its pomp and circumstance, but the investigation by the Swiss might end up being FIFA’s downfall.
AFC President Alex Soosay Steps Down
In what is likely to be running theme over the coming months and years another top football official has resigned. Alex Soosay, the President of the Asian Football Confederation, has stepped down. Mr. Soosay, who was one of the top officials in Asian football, after allegations emerged that he had tried to conceal evidence on a previous corruption investigation.
Back in April the Malay Mail, one of the top newspapers in Malaysia, announced that it had received video evidence from an AFC official incriminating Mr. Soosay in a cover-up on the ouster of Mohamed Bin Hammam the forner President of FIFA. In the video, the AFC official purportedly claims that Mr. Soosay had requested that the official destroy evidence that could implicate him in the Bin Hammam investigation.
Mohamed Bin Hammam, who was Blatter’s right-hand man for years, was banned from FIFA in 2011 after having been found guilty of bribing FIFA presidential election voters.
While all Confederations seem to be tied to this scandal, it appears that the AFC and CONCACAF are being hit the worst.Two of the three federations (CAF has their own issues as well) who have thrived the most during Blatter’s reign also appear to be the ones with the most to lose from this situation.
Speaking of Asian football…
Japan’s 2002 World Cup bid under scrutiny
The one World Cup that seemed to be in the clear is now under fire. The Spanish newspaper AS, a former CONMEBOL employee released documents showing that Paraguayan President Nicolas Leoz had received payments as part of a $1.5 million bribe given to the CONMEBOL Federation. Leoz is a familiar name in this FIFA corruption circle, having famously asked for knighthood from England in exchange for his vote for the 2018 World Cup.
If there is a lesson from this news out of Japan it is that the corruption scandal is not limited to just a set number of countries. If this is true then FIFA’s problems are far deeper than just the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.