Political football
U.S. Soccer exec grilled over Blazer
WASHINGTON — In one of the more awkward moments during Wednesday’s Senate subcommittee hearing on the governance and integrity of FIFA, witness Dan Flynn, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s CEO and secretary general, paused for 21 seconds to muster an answer to Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s blunt question.
Why, Blumenthal asked, did U.S. Soccer officials not investigate or even inquire about wrongdoing within national and international soccer circles before the Department of Justice finally dropped the hammer in late May, unsealing indictments of 14 FIFA members and soccer marketing officials?
Blumenthal (D-Conn.) was particularly curious about how U.S. Soccer could be so in the dark about the corruption within the sport when someone such as Chuck Blazer — the American former FIFA executive committee member and former secretary general of CONCACAF who is at the center of the sprawling federal probe — had such long-standing ties to the American federation.
“I was aware of some level of discomfort, it was all a general feeling,” Flynn finally answered. “I had no hard evidence. We wanted to continue to participate to try to influence the organization as one of 209 (FIFA) members. The second choice we had was to opt out (of FIFA), and with that comes a series of ramifications. We no longer have a seat at the table. We no longer are involved in competitions — Olympics, World Cups, any competitions. And it has farranging ramifications for U.S. Soccer and the business model of soccer in our country.”
Flynn said that Blazer had not been involved with U.S. Soccer since 1986, and that Flynn (who has been in his position since 2000) “knew nothing about any corruption” for as long as he’s held his current post.
But the effort to distance U.S. Soccer from Blazer and CONCACAF is difficult when U.S. Soccer’s president, Sunil Gulati, once shared office space with Blazer in Trump Tower. Gulati did not testify at Wednesday’s hearing.
Flynn was lightly peppered with questions Wednesday afternoon, and they came mostly from Blumenthal and Sen. Jerry Moran (R- Kan.), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Safety, Insurance and Data Security who called for the hearing. Flynn was one of four witnesses who testified in a hearing that came almost two months after Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the FIFA indictments in the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office.
The Daily News was the first to report the existence of the federal investigation in November, as well as Blazer’s role as a cooperating witness for federal authorities. Blazer pleaded guilty in 2013 to 10 charges, including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and tax evasion. He remains a central figure in the ongoing probe, and his cooperation could spell trouble for FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who in June promised to step down when a succession plan is established.
Blatter has not been charged. At one point Blumenthal mispronounced his first name as “Seep.”
“Anybody that I work with has not brought anything to my attention — cold, hard facts — regarding corruption within FIFA or CONCACAF,” Flynn said.
Blumenthal asked Flynn if he ever suspected corruption, which led to another awkward exchange.
“There were moments I would describe — if I had a level of discomfort, I would not participate and I would just get myself out of any situation that offered any level of discomfort,” Flynn said. Blumenthal then asked if Flynn had any evidence that would have caused him to remove himself from discussions or meetings.
“I wouldn’t say evidence. I’d say I think it was the comfort level,” said Flynn. But Flynn said he never inquired further or requested any kind of investigation into what he might have suspected was improper behavior or a breach of ethics within U.S. Soccer. “If there (were) cold facts, I would have brought that to the attention of the appropriate people. There was nothing in the way of any facts that I could take to anybody else,” Flynn said. “Obviously I would consult our outside counsel, but that’s as far as I would take it. It was a discomfort level.”
Michael Hershman, the president of the Fairfax Group and an expert on transparency and governance, testified that one avenue to future reform within FIFA is to establish a coalition of sponsors and media outlets that would walk away from business partnerships with FIFA if reforms are not instituted. British journalist Andrew Jennings, another witness, said an emphatic “no” when asked if FIFA was salvageable or if the culture of corruption could be reversed.
But Blumenthal had the harshest critique of FIFA, likening soccer’s global governing body to a modern-day Mafia.
“What has been revealed so far is a Mafia-style crime syndicate in charge of this sport,” said Blumenthal. “My only hesitation in using that term is it is almost insulting to the Mafia because the Mafia would never have been so blatant, overt and arrogant in its corruption.”