Salman wants to probe Fifa’s US consulting firms
FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said if he was elected he would examine the role played by the US law and consulting firms that were hired by the global soccer body in response to a US Department of Justice probe of corruption in the sport.
Sheikh Salman, president of the Asian Football Confederation and one of five candidates running in the February 26 vote to be the next Fifa president, said a look was needed because he was not convinced that Fifa was getting enough out of the relationship.
Fifa last year hired US law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and New York-based crisis and communications adviser Teneo, and the two firms have been working with Fifa’s legal and communications staff at its Zurich headquarters.
Quinn Emanuel is conducting an internal investigation of Fifa and representing the body before US prosecutors. Teneo was hired “to work across operational and reputational priorities”. Representatives of both firms declined to comment. Sepp Blatter, who spent 17 years as president of Fifa, was last year slapped with an eight-year ban from the game for ethics violations. Issa Hayatou has been acting president since October, pending the February election.
The current Fifa crisis began last May when the US indicted nine soccer officials and five marketing executives on corruptionrelated charges. Since then, the investigation has widened and there are now more than 40 people and entities facing charges over $200m in alleged bribes and kickbacks tied to the marketing of major soccer tournaments and matches around the globe.
Lawyers inside and outside Fifa have steadily gained influence within the organisation in the past seven months. But removing the outside consultants and lawyers would be a risky move for Fifa because the soccer body is relying on them to demonstrate to US prosecutors that it is co-operating with them.
The prosecutors have continued to call Fifa a victim of corrupt individuals, but that status could change at any time.
If Fifa were criminally charged, sponsors and other partners might be wary of the risks of doing business with it.
It is not clear how much Fifa is paying the two firms or what their contracts say about possible termination. It was reported that legal bills combined with a drop in income from sponsors had led to Fifa’s first annual financial loss since 2001. Salman said if he was elected he would consult with Fifa staff before deciding on the firms what was in the “best interest of the organisation”.
The four other presidential candidates are Jordan Football Association president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein; former Fifa deputy secretary-general Jerome Champagne of France; Gianni Infantino, who is Swiss and the current general secretary of the European soccer body Uefa; and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale.