Police swoop over football corruption
Spotlight stays on U-20 World Cup after top football chiefs held in FBI corruption probe
Police swooped on football’s global governing body in Switzerland yesterday — alleging corruption over two decades — as world officials were welcomed to an Auckland marae to launch the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Six Fifa delegates were arrested at a luxury hotel in Zurich in early morning raids ahead of the Fifa congress and presidential election.
They have been detained by Swiss police at the request of US authorities, who allege they accepted more than $100 million in bribes linked to commercial deals dating back to the 1990s for soccer tournaments in the United States and Latin America.
The arrests came just three days before Saturday’s start of the U-20 Cup, the second-largest football tournament in the world.
News of the charges broke as 35 of the 300 Fifa personnel expected to descend on the country for the event were welcomed at Orakei Marae.
When asked by the Herald about the allegations, tournament head Marion Mayer-Vorfelder said she had only just arrived and didn’t know anything yet.
Cup project leader Rhiannon Martin quickly stepped in to say they could not comment further and they were “focus- ing on the football”.
Fifa’s local spokeswoman, Tracie Simpson, then said: “At this point we've been in a marae, as you know, all afternoon. So I think . . . look we obviously . . . we're aware of it but we just want to find out a bit more before we make any further comment.”
Later, a statement from local organising committee adviser Dave Beeche asked for all inquiries to be directed to Fifa’s international office.
“Our focus remains on organising a great Fifa U-20 World Cup, starting on Saturday. “We do not anticipate that these events will impact on the tourna
ment,” he said.
Questions to Fifa’s international office were met with an invitation to a press conference in Zurich, scheduled for late last night (NZ time).
The New York Times reported that as Fifa delegates gathered for their annual meeting, more than a dozen plain-clothed Swiss law enforcement officials arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel, arresting several high-ranking football officials.
Some were handcuffed, others went willingly with the police.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said in a statement that US authorities suspected the six officials of having received or paid bribes totalling millions of dollars and that the crimes were agreed to and prepared in the US, and payments carried out via American banks.
The federal office said the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York was investigating the individuals on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and now.
“The bribery suspects — representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms — are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries and other functionaries of Fifa sub-organisations — totalling more than USD 100 million,” the federal office’s statement said.
“In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America.”
Those arrested so far include Jeffrey Webb, president of Concacaf (the Fifa confederation covering North and Central America and the Caribbean); his predecessor, Jack Warner; Eugenio Figueredo, a Uruguayan football executive; Eduardo Li, president of Costa Rican football; Rafael Esquivel, president of Venezuelan football; Jose Maria Marin, president of Brazilian football; and Nicolas Leoz, the former South American confederation president. Another suspect was named as Costas Takkas, former secretary of Cayman Islands football, the Guard
ian reported. The newspaper said up to 15 officials were understood to be under investigation worldwide, raising questions as to whether some of them would be involved in the U-20 World Cup. However, New Zealand police said none were.
The arrests are believed to have stemmed from an FBI investigation into the process that led to Russia and Qatar getting the rights to host the World Cup finals in 2018 and 2022.
We do not anticipate that these events will impact on the tournament.
Dave Beeche, organising committee