Corrupt former FIFA official Blazer dies

LOS ANGELES: Corrupt football official-turned-whistleblower Chuck Blazer, whose evidence helped trigger the FIFA bribery scandal, has died, said his lawyers.

Blazer, who was banned for life from all football activities for corruption in 2015, had been battling cancer up to his death.

He was 72.

“We are truly saddened by the passing of our client and friend, Chuck Blazer,” his lawyers said in a statement on Wednesday.

“His misconduct, for which he accepted full responsibility, should not obscure Chuck’s positive impact on international football,” the statement added.

The bearded, hulking football official was a pivotal figure in the corruption scandal which convulsed FIFA in 2015 and ultimately led to the downfall of former supremo Sepp Blatter.

Yet for years Blazer himself was seen as emblematic of the worst excesses of FIFA during the Blatter era, unapologetically pocketing millions to fund a luxurious, globe-trotting VIP lifestyle.

His notorious excesses included an US$18,000-a-month (RM77,000) apartment in Trump Tower in New York – and a separate US$6,000 (RM25,000) unit in the same building just to keep his mob of unruly cats.

Blazer had pleaded guilty in 2013 to charges of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion as part of a web of corruption that spanned multiple decades.

During his tenure as one of football’s senior chieftains, Blazer kept a blog – “Travels with Chuck Blazer and Friends” – dedicated to chronicling his brushes with celebrities and world leaders, posing with the likes of Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela and Miss Universe.

Yet his luck ran out when he attempted to conceal his true level of income after failing to file tax returns between 2005 and 2010.