Chuck Blazer
Football executive turned ‘supergrass’ who brought down Sepp Blatter in Fifa’s corruption scandal
CHUCK BLAZER, who has died aged 72, was an American football official and the whistleblower who exposed the corruption in Fifa that led to the resignation of Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, in June 2015.
The Falstaffian and grizzled Blazer was a Fifa Executive Committee member from 1996 to 2011 and General Secretary of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) from 1990 until 2011. In 2013, however, he pleaded guilty to bribery, money laundering and tax evasion and it later transpired that he was the “supergrass” at the heart of investigations into fraud, money laundering and racketeering involving several members of the Fifa executive.
His decision to cooperate with the FBI had come after investigations into his own financial affairs (including accusations of years of tax evasion) forced his hand in 2011. He subsequently provided the authorities with access to his emails, telephone calls and offshore accounts, while continuing to work for Fifa. In 2013, however, he resigned from the Fifa executive when it appeared that he was too involved in the corruption scandal to avoid being implicated.
Charismatic and manipulative, Blazer was said to weigh almost 30 stone, lived a life of extravagant excess and was a colourful character in the Fifa line-up long before his whistleblowing role in the investigation became apparent. But he was regarded by many as having helped to build the popularity of soccer in America and was a key player in the winning bid to stage the World Cup there in 1994.
He was not one to shy away from rumours about his lavish lifestyle. When he joined CONCACAF he moved their offices to the Trump Tower, where they took up the entire 17th floor. Blazer worked from two apartments on the 49th floor in an $18,000-a-month suite of rooms for himself with an adjoining $6,000 apartment for his cats.
Even during his time as an informant he continued to keep up his somewhat bizarre blog; “Travels with Chuck Blazer And His Friends” described his meetings with Prince William and Vladimir Putin, encounters with beauty queens, celebrities, and politicians and photographic proof of his predilection for dressing up as Father Christmas and Obi-wan Kenobi from Star Wars. Latterly, increasingly hampered by his weight and ill health, he drove around New York on a mobility scooter with his pet parrot on his shoulder.
On May 27 2015, as a result of the FBI investigations, the US Department of Justice charged 14 officials, nine of whom were current or former Fifa executives. “They were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest. Instead they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and enrich themselves,” said the US Attorney General, Loretta Lynch. “They did this over and over, year after year, tournament after tournament.” Events tainted by corruption included the award of the 2010 World Cup to South Africa and the 2011 Fifa presidential election.
Blazer’s cooperation with the authorities brought him immunity from prosecution and spared him a 75-year prison sentence. In 2015 he was banned from all football-related activities for life.
Charles Gordon Blazer was born on April 26 1945 in Queens, New York. His father ran a stationery shop and newsagent and young Chuck was educated at Forest Hills High School.
After studying Accounting at New York University, he married his high school girlfriend, Susan Aufox. Blazer’s first professional success came in 1970 when he began producing yellow smiley face badges from a factory in Queens owned by his fatherin-law. When the craze for smiley badges ended, he moved on to selling ashtrays and monogrammed beach towels.
In 1976 his son began to play youth soccer at Westchester County, NY, and Blazer started coaching the team. He was soon involved in the Eastern New York State Soccer Association. For the next 10 years he ran soccer leagues and regional teams and honed his knowledge about the game. Then, in 1984, the US Soccer Federation, which sanctions all amateur and professional soccer in America, held an election. Blazer was elected executive vice president in charge of international competition, having persuaded Pelé to campaign on his behalf.
There was no doubting his dynamism; between 1981 and 1983, the American team had played only two matches. After Blazer’s election it played 19 in less than two years. It was also during his time at the USSF that Blazer began to sit on the board of CONCACAF, where he would meet Jack Warner.
In 1989 Blazer encouraged Warner to run for CONCACAF president and went on to manage his successful campaign. He was rewarded with the role of general secretary, which included an agreement to pay Blazer’s company a 10 per cent cut of sponsorship and television rights, and earned him the nickname “Mr Ten Per Cent”. It has been estimated that Blazer made $15.3 million in commissions between 1996 and 2011.
In May 2011, in response to allegations of bribery made by national representatives of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), Blazer set up an investigation of AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam and FIFA Vice President Jack Warner. This subsequently led to Fifa’s suspension of Warner and Bin Hammam.
At the height of his powers, Blazer would use his expense account to dine out at the most expensive restaurants he could find. “Chuck will do things for you,” reflected one former colleague. “With other people’s money – but he’ll do it.”
His marriage ended in divorce in 1995. He is survived by a son and a daughter.