FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges

**Cujo** · 28-05-2015, 11:50 AM

Sepp Blatter: The man who won't give up
By Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva
27 May 2015
From the section Europe
FIFA President Sepp Blatter gives a press conference at the headquarters of the world football's ruling body in Zurich. World football governing body FIFA announced on May 27, 2011
Sepp Blatter has led Fifa for 17 years, through numerous corruption and bribery scandals
Fifa in crisis

Fifa corruption claims: Key questions answered
Who are the indicted Fifa officials?
A football drama fans could do without
Why the Americans took on Fifa
When police raided the luxury Baur au Lac hotel, overlooking Lake Zurich early on Wednesday, it was not the curtain-raiser that Fifa's Sepp Blatter had in mind for his likely re-election as president of football's world governing body in two days' time.
Many view Friday's election as more of a ceremonial coronation than a democratic ballot, but the dramatic arrest of Fifa officials in their hotel rooms will cast a dark cloud over proceedings.
Suspicion has hung about Fifa for years, and although Mr Blatter is not thought to be implicated in Wednesday's arrests, one has to wonder - why is he so determined to carry on in the top job?
When the 79-year-old walks out into Zurich's vast Hallenstadion on Friday for Fifa's presidential election, he is unlikely to fear any opposition. There are just 209 electors, many of them representing small footballing nations, and Mr Blatter has been cultivating them for years.
After the withdrawal of Luis Figo and Michael van Praag, there is only one man standing against Mr Blatter, Jordan's Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein, and Mr Hussein will almost certainly not command enough votes to pose any kind of threat.
So barring any unexpected upsets, Mr Blatter will assume an unprecedented fifth four-year term, and in doing so remain in charge of a multibillion-dollar sport.
What drives a man, soon to be 80, and who once promised not to stand for re-election, to so clearly crave another four years in such a high profile, and highly scrutinised, position?
"He clearly considers himself to be the only person capable of running Fifa," says Roland Buechel, a Swiss member of parliament and campaigner for more transparency at the top of football.
"I assume he wants to die in office".
Playground king
Mr Blatter was born to a modest family in the alpine town of Visp. Legend has it he was the king of the playground at the local primary school in the 1940s, and the only boy there who possessed a professional-quality football.
After school Mr Blatter followed a not unusual career pattern for a Swiss man in the 1960s and 70s. He did his obligatory service in Switzerland's militia army, rising to the rank of colonel. While there he made contacts which would serve him later in life.
Mr Blatter worked in the watch industry, and increasingly in sports management, serving at the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation before moving to Fifa as its technical director in 1975.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, right, is welcomed by AFC president Mohammed bin Hammam upon his arrival in Doha, Qatar.
Sepp Blatter was cleared to host the 2022 world cup despite allegations of corruption
When he was first elected as Fifa president in 1998 there was, Mr Buechel remembers, a certain amount of national celebration in Mr Blatter's home country.
"We were proud to have a Swiss person in charge of such an important international organisation," he says.
In Visp, Mr Blatter's old school was renamed after him. His portrait hangs in the hall and sports days regularly bear his name.
He continues to receive a warm welcome when he visits the town.
"He's very uncomplicated, very approachable," says Hans-Peter Berchtold, sports editor of the local newspaper Walliserbote.
People are 'not blind'
Nevertheless, Mr Berchtold admits that when it comes to the allegations of corruption at Fifa, even Mr Blatter's oldest acquaintances are "not blind".
"Everyone knows there are problems at Fifa," he says. "But they don't think Sepp Blatter should be made responsible for all of them."
Mr Berchtold argues that there are plenty of positive aspects to the Fifa president's record, among them promoting football in developing countries, successfully staging Africa's first-ever World Cup, and, more recently, committing Fifa to a process of reform.
But that is precisely where some of Mr Blatter's critics disagree. "He has had 17 years to improve governance at Fifa," says Eric Martin, head of the Swiss branch of the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International. "I'm sceptical whether he will ever do it now."
Sepp Blatter (L) holds the ball used in the 1930 Football World Cup as he meets in central London with Britain's Chancellor Gordon Brown
As global football chief, Sepp Blatter has consorted with world leaders over the years
In 2011 an independent panel convened by Fifa proposed a package of reforms. Fifa's decision to ignore its recommendations for fixed terms, age limits, and full disclosure of cash, was criticised by Transparency International.
"In Switzerland we change our president every year," says Eric Martin, head of the anti-corruption body's Swiss branch. "I'm sure Fifa could do the same after 17 years."
And while some old friends describe him as down-to-earth and open, others who have worked with him say he resents opposition, pointing to the swift departure of Fifa colleagues who dared to question him.
Mr Blatter bluntly turned down a suggestion of a television debate with candidates standing against him.
When asked once about his reaction to criticism of his stewardship of Fifa, the loudest of which has come from media in World Cup heavyweights Germany and England, Mr Blatter replied, somewhat ominously, that he could "forgive, but not forget".
'Don Blatterone'
Many in Switzerland wonder how Mr Blatter can have been in charge of Fifa for so long, amid so many reports of corruption, and yet remain apparently untouched.
One Swiss newspaper jokingly called him "the dark prince of football, the godfather, Don Blatterone" - but no inquiry has ever revealed proof of his involvement in bribery.
"He's a survivor," says Mr Buechel. "Nothing ever sticks to him, there is always someone between him and the bribes."
"I can tell you for sure he is not bribable," counters Hans-Peter Berchtold. "Money is not what motivates him."
What emerges then, finally, is a man who both critics and supporters say cannot imagine his life without Fifa. His career there has outlasted three marriages. Mr Buechel and Mr Martin believe that Mr Blatter's determination to hold on to his post is now damaging football's governing body by not allowing space for successors to emerge.
Even fans like Mr Berchtold express regret that Mr Blatter did not accept the time was right to leave.
"He could have had a nice retirement here in Visp," he says. "He had the chance now to leave by the front entrance."
Now Mr Berchtold fears that "if something bad at Fifa happens" over the next four years, an octogenarian Mr Blatter could be bundled unceremoniously out the back door - not a nice ending for the boy who kicked a football round Visp schoolyard.
Perhaps Fifa is Sepp Blatter's playground now and he still wants to be king. And kings, of course, rarely abdicate.

Sepp Blatter: The man who won't give up - BBC News

**Bruce Bayliss** · 28-05-2015, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by cyrille

The dirty deals were allegedly done on US soil

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

I think Bill Clinton is behind this.

Qatar World Cup 2022 scandal: Bill Clinton?s fury at vote triggered global search for truth - Telegraph
Qatar World Cup 2022 scandal: Bill Clinton’s fury at vote triggered global search for truth
Former US president's exasperation at the Fifa decision-making process led to investigations that now threaten to reverse the decision to award the 2022 finals to a football desert
Bill Clinton looked anything but happy as he strode into the Savoy Baur en Ville hotel in Zurich in December 2010. The receptionists could tell he was irritated, but had no idea just how angry he was.
After closing the door to his suite, he reached for an ornament on a table and threw it at a wall mirror in a fit of rage, shattering the glass.
The former US president, who had spent two years travelling the world glad-handing members of football’s governing body, Fifa, could not believe America’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup had been beaten by, of all places, Qatar.
Mr Clinton, the honorary chairman of the US bid, had wheeled out such big-hitters as Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Freeman and Spike Lee to add lustre to the US Soccer Federation bid. Australia and Japan’s bids had seemed the biggest threat, but few had seriously entertained the idea that Qatar, a footballing desert, could win.
“Clinton was fuming,” said one well-placed source. “He felt humiliated and felt the decision did not make sense.”As Qatar’s bid team celebrated and the Fifa president Sepp Blatter declared football was going to “new lands”, questions were already being asked about the decision-making process. Why would Fifa award the World Cup to a small Gulf state with no footballing history, let alone stadia, where summer temperatures can reach 50C (122F)?
The answer could lie in a series of payments made by a senior Qatari official to various Fifa members. The Qatar 2022 bid committee is adamant that there is no link.
In the wake of Qatar’s victory, the US and Australian governing bodies, or sources close to them, each hired teams of private detectives who have worked behind the scenes since, interviewing witnesses and obtaining documents in the search for what they were certain was the hidden truth about the motives of Fifa members in voting for Qatar.
Whether there is any connection between these investigations and the leak of documents to The Sunday Times is unclear, but Australia and the US have most to gain if Qatar is stripped of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, newspapers have been making their own inquiries into the controversy.
In March this year, The Telegraph disclosed that Jack Warner, the former vice-president of Fifa, and his family were paid almost £1.2million by a Qatari firm linked to the World Cup bid. This newspaper also revealed that the 10-year-old daughter of a Brazilian Fifa executive who participated in the 2010 decision had more than £2 million put into a savings account set up in her name.
The Sunday Times has been given millions of leaked documents that appear to show a further £2 million in bribes that were paid to Fifa members in a plot allegedly organised by Mohamed Bin Hammam, Qatar’s most senior football official at the time.
Mr Bin Hammam is alleged to have used ten secret slush funds to make dozens of payments, many of them to accounts controlled by the heads of 30 African football associations who could lobby the continent’s four executive members over how to vote.
Mr Bin Hammam was banned from world football in 2011 after he was caught bribing voters in his bid to be elected Fifa president.
Now The Telegraph has discovered that Michel Platini, the president of Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA, held secret meetings with Mr Bin Hammam, and that Thailand was offered a gas deal in return for its support of the Qatar bid.
The clamour for Qatar to be punished has now built such momentum that Australia is said to be ready to re-run its bid if the 2022 tournament is up for grabs again, with the US likely to follow suit.
Where that leaves England’s World Cup ambitions is less easy to predict. England bid for the 2018 World Cup, given to Russia on the same day as Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament.
David Cameron and the Duke of Cambridge were among those lobbying Fifa in the run-up to the vote in Switzerland, yet the bid got just two votes and was eliminated in the first round of voting.
Andy Anson, the chief executive of England’s bid, said some executive committee members had told lies. He had been confident that England could secure seven votes in the first round, a base that would have provided a platform for victory.
“I do feel people let us down, I’d be lying if I said they didn’t,” he said. “People who promised us our vote obviously went the other way.”
Even before Russia annexed Crimea, concerns had been raised about the country’s human rights and safety record, and there is speculation that if the 2022 vote has to be re-run, the 2018 vote would have to be re-run also.
Fifa is already looking at the possibility of moving the 2022 tournament to the winter months, and speculation is growing that Mr Blatter is looking for an excuse to reverse the decision altogether, with health concerns being a potential excuse.
A spokesman for the Qatar 2022 bid said Mr Bin Hammam had never worked for the bid and they knew nothing about his activities.

**baldrick** · 28-05-2015, 01:19 PM

thats what you get fr snubbing the seppos ... bwahahahaha - lucky Quatar has not been invaded ... yet

but

the arrests are the best U.S. foreign-policy move of the year

**Bruce Bayliss** · 28-05-2015, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by baldrick

thats what you get fr snubbing the seppos

and if Cuba is any guide that is just the start

**Norton** · 28-05-2015, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

Whether there is any connection between these investigations and the leak of documents to The Sunday Times is unclear

So all that crap about Clinton's mood after the selection of Qatar means fuck all in the end.

No smoking gun here. Smoke n mirrors from the Gaurdian is all there is to see here.

**harrybarracuda** · 28-05-2015, 03:41 PM

SA paid R120m in bribes for SWC - claim
2015-05-27 22:00

New York - South African officials paid more than $10 million (R120 million) in bribes to host the 2010 World Cup and handed over a briefcase stuffed with $10 000 stacks of banknotes in Paris, a US indictment alleged on Wednesday.

Read: US indictment on 2010 SWC

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said executives from soccer's governing body FIFA took bribes in exchange for voting for South Africa to become the first African nation to host the tournament.

An indictment unsealed in New York alleges that former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, 72, diverted a "substantial portion" of the funds for his personal use.

The document claims that Warner and his family cultivated ties with South African soccer officials dating back to the early 2000s and the country's first and thwarted bid to host the World Cup in 2006.

"At one point," the indictment alleges, Warner ordered an intermediary to fly to Paris and "accept a briefcase containing bundles of US currency in $10 000 stacks in a hotel room" from a high-ranking South African bid committee official.

The intermediary, who was identified in the indictment as co-conspirator 14, boarded a return flight within hours, carried the briefcase back to Trinidad and Tobago and handed it to Warner.

In the build-up to the 2004 FIFA vote on the 2010 host nation, a representative of the Moroccan bid committee offered to pay $1 million to Warner to secure his vote, the indictment alleges.

Warner purportedly informed Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA executive committee member, that "high-ranking officials of FIFA, the South African government and the South African bid committee" were prepared to make a $10 million bribe for their nation to win the bid.

As they were unable to make the payment from government funds, $10 million was sent from FIFA using funds that would otherwise have gone from FIFA to South Africa, the indictment claimed.

A FIFA official wired payments totaling $10 million in January and March 2008 from a FIFA account in Switzerland through New York to be credited into accounts controlled by Warner, the indictment says.

"Soon after receiving these wire transfers, the defendant Jack Warner caused a substantial portion of the funds to be diverted for his personal use," the indictment alleges.

Warner, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, left FIFA in 2011 after being suspended by an ethics committee looking into corruption.

US citizen Blazer was allegedly promised $1 million of the bribe, but never received the full amount - collecting only $750 000 from Warner in payments made from 2008 to May 2011, court papers say.

Blazer, 70, has pleaded guilty.

The former general secretary of CONCACAF and a former FIFA executive committee member, admitted to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, income tax evasion and failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

SA paid R120m in bribes for SWC - claim | Sport24

**harrybarracuda** · 28-05-2015, 03:43 PM

But now we know why Bill shut up about it.

Clinton Foundation donors included FIFA, Qatar host committee - The Washington Post

**Horatio Hornblower** · 28-05-2015, 03:46 PM

Seems the football world are going to go after Sepp, the votes is supposed to be going ahead on Friday, now that should be interesting.

**billy the kid** · 28-05-2015, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by taxexile

deep-seated and historical abhorrence of white collar crime.

for a minute i thought they were talking about the banks
but turns out fifa were laundering american dollars.
and they got all upset.

**Chittychangchang** · 28-05-2015, 05:59 PM

There is speculation that Qatar’s 2030 Winter Olympics bid may also be threatened.

**Bruce Bayliss** · 29-05-2015, 01:00 AM

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

the votes is supposed to be going ahead on Friday

and the NZ FA is voting for Sepp

**Horatio Hornblower** · 29-05-2015, 01:11 AM

UEFA president Michel Platini says 45 or 46 out of 53 European countries will vote to oust FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Friday.
Platini said 45 or 46 of UEFA's 53 member associations would vote for Prince Ali. But it appeared that Blatter still commanded enough of FIFA's 209 national associations to secure victory. Blatter appeared confident despite the dawn raid by plainclothes police on Wednesday that left seven of the most powerful figures in football in Swiss custody and facing extradition to the United States on corruption charges. They are all contesting extradition, but lawyers said the process could be completed within months. Swiss authorities have also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups, which are being hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. U.S. authorities said nine football officials and five sports media and promotions executives faced corruption charges involving more than $150 million in bribes. Both Qatar and Moscow have denied any suggestion of wrongdoing over their bids to host one of the world's top sporting events, and Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of meddling in an effort to prevent the re-election of Blatter. "This is yet another blatant attempt to extend its jurisdiction to other states," Putin said, adding that Russia would continue to support Blatter. The FIFA Congress formally got under way on Thursday evening. In the past the likes of Grace Jones have set the hearts racing of the older men in suits who comprise most of the Congress's constituency. But times have changed. The evening was billed as a rather more subdued affair than normal under the banner "Game of Joy, Game of Hope" with dancers and musicians on stage followed by a grand buffet afterwards. The serious business starts on Friday morning in Zurich's Hallenstadion, which is where the announcement of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venues was made in 2010 -- decisions which lie at the heart of much of FIFA's current malaise. With splits opening in the world game, the Asian and African confederations backed Blatter for president, while Western nations said he must go. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the vote should be delayed in light of the corruption investigation. British Prime Minister David Cameron backed Prince Ali's candidacy and said there was a strong case for a change of leadership at FIFA. Britain has long been a critic of FIFA and bid for the 2018 World Cup which was awarded to Russia. Les Murray of Australia, a former FIFA ethics committee member, also called for Blatter to resign. Meanwhile blue-chip sponsors, many of whom have solidly backed FIFA despite nearly 20 years of bribery and corruption allegations, appeared to be growing concerned at events unfolding in Zurich. In a strongly worded statement, credit card giant Visa said: "It is important that FIFA makes changes now, so that the focus remain on these going forward. Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship." German sportswear company Adidas said FIFA should do more to establish transparent compliance standards. Anheuser-Busch InBev, whose Budweiser brand is a sponsor of the 2018 World Cup, said it was closely monitoring developments. Coca-Cola Co, another sponsor, said the charges had "tarnished the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations".

FIFA crisis: '45 or 46 out of 53 European countries want Sepp Blatter out' - Football - Eurosport Asia

**billy the kid** · 29-05-2015, 01:43 AM

stubborn ole boy he is
but it has all happened under his watch so he will have to resign.
or can it get even more embarrassing for him.

**Chittychangchang** · 29-05-2015, 02:55 AM

Worawi Makudi

President of the Thailand Football Association, Makudi was expected to be questioned by Michael Garcia, the lawyer who compiled a report into the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, over his involvement in a gas deal between his country and Qatar, which was completed shortly before the vote for the 2022 World Cup was held in 2010. Lord Triesman, former chairman of the FA, raised allegations that Makudi demanded television rights to a friendly between England and Thailand in return for his vote. The Thai official attempted to sue Triesman over the allegation, which was made under parliamentary privilege, but was unsuccessful.

**thaimeme** · 29-05-2015, 06:15 AM

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Seems the football world are going to go after Sepp, the votes is supposed to be going ahead on Friday, now that should be interesting.

Can't have closure unless the head of the Mafia boss is decapitated.
Have to believe that someone is going to implicate him - before or during trial.

Imagine that the respective country/regional federations will act for the best interest of their survival. They're probably all dirty.

**BobR** · 29-05-2015, 06:44 AM

Forget the comedy aspect of this, for anyone who has not seen it this is worth watching (especially now) since he accurately describes some of the incredible crap FIFA got away with in Brazil and South Africa.
Though funny, his writers are accurate and do their research very well, and much of this is both disturbing and disgusting.

**Kurgen** · 29-05-2015, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

There is speculation that Qatar’s 2030 Winter Olympics bid may also be threatened.

**Kurgen** · 29-05-2015, 10:17 AM

Putin: FIFA Scandal Is Anti-Russia Conspiracy

Vladimir Putin has waded into the FIFA controversy, throwing his weight firmly behind its embattled president.

The Russian president's voluble support might not necessarily help Sepp Blatter's case amongst his detractors, however.

Mr Putin has accused the United States of meddling in FIFA's affairs, and trying to take away Russia's World Cup.

He described the arrests of senior FIFA officials in Zurich as "at best, odd," and said they were the latest attempt by the US to extend its jurisdiction to other states.

He spoke of alleged "pressure" on Mr Blatter over his support of Russia's World Cup bid, and said this was "yet another evident attempt to de-rail Mr Blatter's re-election as FIFA president".

In other words, he sees this as part of a broader political agenda - one he presents as an ongoing US-led 'anti-Russian' conspiracy.

Russia's World Cup organising committee insists it has 'nothing to hide' and says the fact that the computers and email chains associated with the bid‎ were wiped can be easily and innocently explained - they were leased and this was standard procedure.

It's important ‎to understand how significant this World Cup is to Russia.

Football is massively popular here and 2018 is considered a project of national prestige - with which Vladimir Putin has personally associated himself.

‎His intervention in Mr Blatter's defence suggests he will take any perceived threat to it equally as personally.

Putin: FIFA Scandal Is Anti-Russia Conspiracy

**Kurgen** · 29-05-2015, 10:19 AM

The Ruskies will be gutted if they lose their WC,

fukk em!

**Klondyke** · 29-05-2015, 10:39 AM

Do the American know that the football the FIFA is managing is not the football they know in USA?

**Cujo** · 29-05-2015, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Klondyke

Do the American know that the football the FIFA is managing is not the football they know in USA?

They know.

Fifa scandal: Why the US is policing a global game
By Paul Blake
BBC News, Washington
28 May 2015
From the section US & Canada

America does not even like football, or so many people think. Why is it leading the charge against alleged Fifa corruption?
At dawn, Swiss police rounded up seven Fifa officials at the behest of US authorities who have conducted a massive investigation into corruption at football's governing body.
So how did a country where football is more niche than entrenched come to police the world's beautiful game?
"Too many countries are cowed by Fifa," said Alexandra Wrage, a former Fifa anti-bribery adviser who resigned in protest from the organisation.
"As with international bribery more generally, the US Department of Justice has said they'll step up to investigate corruption if others won't," she said.
How can the US police a global game?
Suspects being led away
The suspects were shielded from journalists by a white sheet
Speaking to reporters just hours after the arrests in Switzerland, FBI Director James Comey set out why the US was able to act.
"If you touch our shores with your corrupt enterprise, whether that is through meetings or through using our world class financial system, you will be held accountable for that corruption," he said.
As it turns out, the US charges accuse many of those football officials of doing both.
To prosecute cases that involve foreign nationals, US authorities need only prove a minor connection to the United States.
But in the case of the charges made public on Wednesday, the alleged corruption hit right at the heart of the game in the US.
Fifa and the confederations under it make money by selling the marketing and media rights to the World Cup and other tournaments that they organise.
The charges largely relate to "the systematic payment of bribes and kickbacks" that were paid by marketing executives who wanted to increase their chances at winning contracts for the rights to market and sell media access to tournaments.
These bribes were at times organised during meetings in the US, and some of the money was transferred through US bank accounts.
What sparked the US investigation?
At a news conference on Wednesday, the acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Kelly Currie, noted the scale of the allegations.
"This sort of bribery and corruption in international soccer has been going on for two decades. Our investigation...that itself took years," he said.
Sepp Blatter and Mohammed bin Hammam
Fifa President Sepp Blatter (r) with Mohammed bin Hammam in Qatar in 2010
It is not clear what specific event - if any - prompted the US investigation. Some have pointed to the United States' failed bid in late 2010 to host the the 2022 World Cup, and suspicions that bribes were paid to encourage votes for Qatar.
"I know some people who were in the US bidding committee... They all had really strong suspicions that somebody was getting bought off," said Andrew Zimbalist, author of Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. He told the BBC that he suspected the justice department probably got involved following the failed bid.
The choice of Qatar raised suspicions in part because of the extremely high temperatures it experiences during the summer months - a fact that prompted a Fifa taskforce to recommend the games be played in November and December rather than the usual June-July timeframe.
In the hours after the dawn arrests, Swiss authorities said they were opening a separate investigation relating to the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.
How deep are the US ties to the case?
The Miami offices of Concacaf, the football federation under Fifa that governs the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, were raided by FBI agents early on Wednesday.
Two of the people who have been charged - Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner - are the current and past heads of Concacaf, respectively.
Police car outside of Concacaf
Authorities raided Concacaf headquarters in Miami early on Wednesday
It is not clear what specifically the authorities are looking for in these raids, but many of the charges that were revealed today involve bribery and kickback schemes.
These schemes are related to the media and marketing rights for World Cup qualifying games in the Concacaf region, as well as the Concacaf Gold Cup, the Concacaf Champions League, and several others.
At the centre of some of these schemes was Traffic Sports USA, a sports marketing firm with ties to Brazil, and its owner Aaron Davidson. In another part of Miami, the FBI on Wednesday picked up Aaron Davidson , the president of Traffic Sports USA, who the Justice Department implicated in some of the bribery scandals.
The Copa America, which is set to be held for the first time outside of South America in 2016 when it will be played in the US, was highlighted for the corruption that surrounds it.
"Our investigation revealed that what should have been an expression of international sportsmanship was used as a vehicle in this broader scheme to line executives' pockets with bribes totalling $110 million [£71m], nearly a third of the legitimate cost of the rights to the tournaments involved," US Attorney General Lynch said during a news conference detailing the charges.
Concacaf has been in trouble in the past.
In 2012 Concacaf turned itself in to US tax authorities and admitted to not paying taxes for several years.
Chuck Blazer's plea was unsealed on Wednesday
Among those at the helm of the organisation was secretary general Chuck Blazer, who also served as a Fifa executive committee member.
It was also revealed on Wednesday that in 2013 he pleaded guilty to several charges related to corruption.
Just months ago, the New York Daily News reported that Mr Blazer has been working as an informant for US authorities.
The newspaper said that he met with football officials on the sidelines of the 2012 Olympics in London, and used a hidden microphone on a keychain to gather intelligence.
This report has not been independently confirmed. Officials say the corruption investigation is on-going.
"Nobody is above or beyond the law," FBI Director Comey said. "We will not stop until we send messages that this is not the way things should be and that they must be

Fifa scandal: Why the US is policing a global game - BBC News

**harrybarracuda** · 29-05-2015, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Seems the football world are going to go after Sepp, the votes is supposed to be going ahead on Friday, now that should be interesting.

No they aren't, he's bought all the Asian and African votes and it will be a doddle to get past 105 votes.

It's up to Platini to grow a pair of balls and threaten to pull UEFA out of FIFA.

A European Nations Championship in 2018 and 2022 would fuck up all these mickey mouse countries - all the sponsors would happily support it - and they'd be desperate to jump ship.

**Norton** · 29-05-2015, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

It's up to Platini to grow a pair of balls and threaten to pull UEFA out of FIFA.

He's talking tough. Theatens to pull out if Blatter is reelected.

All talk no action remains t o be seen.

Same goes for the big money sponsors.

**Horatio Hornblower** · 29-05-2015, 02:38 PM

Seems you've agreed with my statement, Platinni and co have made there case very clear, Blatter has to go, which basically means if Blatter doesn't go Eufa will pull the plug.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Seems the football world are going to go after Sepp, the votes is supposed to be going ahead on Friday, now that should be interesting.

No they aren't, he's bought all the Asian and African votes and it will be a doddle to get past 105 votes.

It's up to Platini to grow a pair of balls and threaten to pull UEFA out of FIFA.

A European Nations Championship in 2018 and 2022 would fuck up all these mickey mouse countries - all the sponsors would happily support it - and they'd be desperate to jump ship.

**baldrick** · 29-05-2015, 03:17 PM

is blatter related to blurter ?

does tweery play soccer ?

Thread: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges

Thread Tools

Display

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Posting Permissions