Fifa whistleblower Chuck Blazer has admitted taking bribes to vote for both the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.
|||Fifa whistleblower Chuck Blazer has admitted taking bribes to vote for both the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.
The American also pleaded guilty to tax evasion and accepting bribes and kickbacks connected to five Gold Cups — the North and Central American confederation’s flagship tournament.
This damning admission of criminal activity on Fifa’s executive was contained in Blazer’s plea-bargain testimony given to the FBI in November 2013 but made public for the first time last night.
It came just 24 hours after the resignation of Fifa president Sepp Blatter amid criminal investigations in America and Switzerland. The 2018 World Cup in Russia has also come under threat as the FBI are now investigating how the country was awarded the tournament, along with Qatar in 2022.
Part of Blazer’s evidence is redacted, suggesting further evidence involving the Fifa hierarchy is being kept back.
The 70-year-old, now seriously ill in a New York hospital with cancer and pneumonia, admits: ‘During my association with Fifa and CONCACAF, among other things I and others agreed that I or a co-conspirator would commit at least two acts of racketeering activity.
‘I agreed with others 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. I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup.
‘I and others, while acting in our official capacities, agreed to participate in a scheme to defraud Fifa and CONCACAF of the right to honest services by taking undisclosed bribes.’
Blazer’s testimony shows that Fifa’s fraudsters tainted World Cups long before the 2018 and 2022 editions, which are currently being probed.
While the Qatar decision has been the subject of huge controversy since the ballot in 2010, Russia, who will have world football gathering in St Petersburg for the qualifying draw on July 25, has largely escaped suspicion. But an FBI official has told Reuters that the World Cup bids would be part of the probe that is now going beyond the alleged $100million (£65m) worth of fraudulent activity by Fifa officials.
Russia 2018 World Cup chief Alex Sorokin said last week: ‘We did everything the process wanted us to do. We are not concerned with any investigation.’ And a statement from their organising committee said yesterday: ‘The 2018 World Cup will be held for the first time in the territory of the world’s largest country. We will continue to work closely with Fifa towards this goal on a daily basis.’
The timescale makes it unlikely that Russia will lose the tournament. And England, who bid for the 2018 showcase and could put on such an event at short notice, are giving no indication of wanting to do so.
FA chairman Greg Dyke has already ruled out any England bid were there to be a revote of the Qatar tournament. The 2022 World Cup hosts had taken offence at Dyke suggesting they wouldn’t be sleeping well in the wake of Blatter’s resignation. Qatar FA president Sheik Hamad told Dyke he should let the legal process take its course and concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the World Cup by then.
Dyke responded: ‘It’s pathetic. They would say that, wouldn’t they. A year ago when The Sunday Times published that massive dossier about Qatar and the Qatar World Cup, the response from Blatter was that the British media was being racist because a lot of it involved corruption in Africa. I take offence at that.
‘There is an email out there from Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke saying the Qataris “bought the World Cup”. They denied it, but it is out there. Now that the Swiss authorities are investigating the process, we must wait and see what happens.
‘If in the end they say it was a fair process then, yes, it should go ahead. But if they say, as I suspect, that an awful lot of money was thrown at this and some of it went to people it shouldn’t have gone to, then I think there should be a re-bid.’
But Qatar’s foreign minister Khaled Al Attiyah countered: ‘No way can Qatar be stripped. We are confident of the procedures and presented the best file. It is because of prejudice and racism that we have this campaign against Qatar.’
Meanwhile, South Africa’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula reacted angrily to allegations that his government had paid a $10m (£6.5m) bribe via FIFA to arch Fifa crook Jack Warner for his 2010 vote.
Mbalula said: ‘Criminals can explain a bribe very well, I don’t know how bribes work. The money was to support African diaspora in the Caribbean. It was an above-board payment. We don’t know what compromised individuals say when they are compromised.’
Fifa secretary general Valcke, to whom the South African FA wrote regarding the payment, said: ‘I’m beyond reproach and I certainly don’t feel guilty. I don’t even have to justify that I’m innocent.’
Interpol, who are helping the US agencies, yesterday put six men linked to Fifa on their most wanted list, issuing international alerts for two former Fifa officials and four executives on charges including racketeering and corruption.
The ‘Red Notices’ were issued for former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and Nicolas Leoz. Others listed are Argentinians Alejandro Burzaco and brothers Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, who together are accused of paying more than £65m in bribes for media and commercial rights to soccer tournaments, as well as Jose Margulies, a Brazilian broadcast executive.– Daily Mail
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