FIFA-GATE: A TIMELINE
Fifa’s scandal-ridden year was the biggest news story of 2015.
Nreports that former US soccer administrator Chuck Blazer had been a confidential informant for the FBI and the IRS, and recorded key meetings between executives of Fifa and of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Blazer was compelled to inform for the FBI and IRS after they uncovered more than a decade of unpaid taxes on hidden, multimillion-dollar incomes. Michael Garcia, the American attorney who authored a report on corruption around the awarding of the 2018World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament in Qatar, quits because the findings of his report are played down by the Fifa judicial chamber, who also refuse to publish them. GermanTV channel ARD accuse CAF president Issa Hayatou of accepting a US$1.5-million (R21-million) ‘inducement’to ensure Qatar won the right to host the 2022
17 December 2014: 4 May 2015:
ovember 1, 2014: The World Cup. Pointedly, he is not suing them for defamation. Police swoop on a Zurich hotel and arrest 14 leading Fifa figures two days before the elections. Uefa’s Michel Platini demands Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s resignation. Former Fifa vicepresident JackWarner turns himself in to police in Trinidad after an arrest warrant is issued. Blatter is re-elected with 133 votes, but without a clear majority. Opponent Prince Ali Ben Al-Hussein pulls out before a second round of voting. Five days after his re-election, under mounting public and media pressure, Blatter resigns and fixes a new election for 26 February 2016. Meanwhile, the transcript of a closed-sentencing proceeding against Blazer is made public. In his 2013 testimony, Blazer admits to conspiring with other Fifa Executive Committee members to accept
27 May: 28 May: 29 May: 3 June:
bribes in conjunction with the selection of 1998 and 2010 World Cup hosts. In response, South African Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula denies that the payment of $10-million (R120-million) to Warner was a bribe. Fifa announce a delay in the 2026World Cup bidding process amidst allegations of bribery in the 2018 and 2022 bidding processes. Michel Platini says he is a candidate for the Fifa election. Swiss prosecutor general Michael Lauber opens an investigation into a payment of two million Swiss Francs (R30-million) of Fifa money by Blatter to Platini. Blatter and Platini are suspended for 90 days by the Fifa ethics commission, and presidential election candidate Chung Mong-joon of South Korea is banned for six years after facing numerous allegations including votetrading deals, ending his remote chances.
June 10: 29 July: 25 September: 8 October: