- US attorney general alleges ‘rampant, systemic and deep-rooted’ racket
- Nine current or former officials charged alongside marketing executives
The Guardian, Rupert Neate, New York, Wednesday 27 May 2015
Fifa
officials ‘corrupted’ football by accepting millions in bribes, says US
attorney general
Fifa corruption arrests: key questions answered |
Loretta Lynch, the US attorney general, said the Fifa officials had allegedly run a
“rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” scheme to “acquire millions of dollars in
bribes and kickbacks”.
As she
announced charges against the nine officials, seven of whom were arrested in
dawn raids at a five-star hotel in Switzerland, Lynch said: “They were expected
to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest, and protect the integrity of the
game. Instead, they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their
interests and enrich themselves.”
Lynch said
the nine Fifa officials, including former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, and
five sports marketing executives had run “a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves
through the corruption of international soccer”.
She alleged
that the bribery and corruption extended from the sale of TV rights to voting
for which countries should be awarded the right to hold the World Cup and other
tournaments.
“These
individuals and organizations engaged in bribery to decide who would televise
games; where the games would be held; and who would run the organization
overseeing organized soccer worldwide,” Lynch said.
“They
corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and enrich
themselves. They did this over and over, year after year, tournament after
tournament.”
Lynch said
she would seek the extradition of the men to the US to stand trial as soon as
possible. If found guilty of racketeering, the most serious of the 47 charges,
some of the men face up to 20 years in jail.
She refused
to comment on whether Sepp Blatter, the current president of Fifa who is
seeking re-election for a fifth term on Friday, would be subject to the
far-reaching and ongoing investigation.
Lynch said
Fifa would need to consider whether the World Cups in Russia in 2018 and Qatar
in 2022, which have long been plagued with allegations of fraud, should go
ahead as planned.
Kelly
Curries, the acting US attorney for the eastern district of New York, said:
“This is the beginning of our effort, not the end. We are looking into
individuals and entities in a variety of countries.” There are 25 unnamed
co-conspirators mentioned in the indictment, including people linked to the
South Africa 2010 World Cup bid committee.
The charges
were announced at a press conference in New York on Wednesday hosted by Lynch,
who was flanked by senior officials from the FBI and the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) criminal investigations unit.
Richard
Weber, the chief investigator of the IRS criminal investigations unit, said:
“This is really the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing Fifa a red
card,” adding: “The fans shouldn’t have to worry about officials corrupting
their sport.”
James
Comey, the director of the FBI, said the game had been “hijacked by
corruption”.
The current
or former Fifa officials charged are Eduardo Li, Jeffrey Webb, Eugenio
Figueredo, Jack Warner, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria
Marin and Nicolás Leoz. Warner and Leoz were not among those arrested in
Switzerland; Leoz resigned as president of the South American Football
Confederation in 2013, while Warner stood down from all international football
positions in 2011.
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