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Diego Maradona Will Run for FIFA's Presidency

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The Argentine legend has promised to end corruption within the organization.

Diego Maradona

by teleSUR

Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona confirmed Sunday that he will be running for FIFA’s presidency.

“Diego will be candidate for FIFA (presidency), with all the authority he has, he has been in the front line fighting from that world of (football) players … Diego has been a spearhead to talk about corruption inside FIFA, and corruption within the AFA (Argentine Football Association),” revealed Victor Hugo Morales, host of teleSUR’s “De Chilena!” show.

Maradona has been a longtime critic of FIFA and its policies. During the last World Cup, the former star denounced FIFA for charging US$2 million dollars in transmission rights to Haiti, a country that is struggling to recover from devastating earthquake in 2010.

FIFA has been mired in scandal since seven of its officials were arrested when Swiss police swooped into a luxury hotel in Zurich ahead of the congress. The officials are set to be extradited to the United States, where they are suspected of receiving close to US$150 million in bribes.

Last week, Swiss officials also said they were investigating 53 new suspected cases of money laundering linked to FIFA.

“Partly in addition to the 104 banking relations already known to the authorities, banks announced 53 suspicious banking relations via the Anti-Money-Laundering-Framework of Switzerland,” the country’s Attorney General Michael Lauber stated, according to AFP.

Lauber praised banks for reporting the “suspicious” transactions, but said a full investigation could take years.

Some of the financial transactions are allegedly linked to FIFA World Cup bids, including those for the 2018 and 2022 games. According to Lauber, the investigation “does not exclude” FIFA’s outgoing head Joseph Blatter from possible questioning, though he isn’t under suspicion.

Blatter announced plans to resign from his position at the football organization just days after being re-appointed as its head on May 30 during FIFA’s annual congress. He is expected to step down by the end of the year, though earlier this week Blatter hinted he may reconsider.

Interpol issues six wanted person alerts over FIFA case

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Two former FIFA officials, including Jack Warner, and four corporate executives wanted over racketeering and corruption.

Warner is among nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives charged by the US Department of Justice [File pic - Reuters]

Warner is among nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives charged by the US Department of Justice [File pic – Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Interpol has placed six people, including two former FIFA officials and four corporate executives, on its most wanted list on racketeering and corruption charges at the request of US authorities.

The former FIFA officials are ex-vice president Jack Warner and former FIFA executive committee member, Nicolás Leoz.

The Red Notices issued by Interpol are not international arrest warrants.

However, they are used by the organisation to inform its member countries that an arrest warrant has been issued for an individual by a judicial authority and who seeks the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action.

Warner is among nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives charged by the US Department of Justice with running a criminal enterprise that involved more than $150m in bribes.

Meanwhile, FIFA President Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US authorities as part of their corruption inquiry into football’s governing body, the New York Times (NYT) has reported.

Blatter, who announced on Tuesday that he will be resigning from his position, has not been directly implicated in the parallel US and Swiss criminal investigations into FIFA, which were announced last week.

Unidentified US law enforcement officials, however, told the NYT that “they were hoping to win the cooperation of some of the FIFA officials now under indictment and work their way up the organisation” in a bid to build a case against Blatter.

Nine FIFA officials and five business executives were indicted by the US last Wednesday on corruption charges, with seven arrested in Zurich ahead of FIFA’s annual congress on Friday.

Blatter announced his decision to resign on Tuesday, just four days after the congress that saw him win a fifth termas the body’s president.

“I cherish FIFA more than anything and I want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football,” Blatter said at a news conference in Zurich on Tuesday.

“FIFA needs a profound overhaul. I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress.

“I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA president until that election.”

Domenico Scala, head of FIFA’s independent audit and compliance committee, said there would need to be four months’ notice for any new presidential election.

At the FIFA meeting in Zurich last Friday, Blatter, 79, had been re-elected when his only rival, Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, withdrew after gaining 73 votes to Blatter’s 133 in the first round of voting.

A day later, Blatter came out fighting, implying that the US timed the announcement of a major corruption probe to try to scupper his re-election bid.

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Office of Attorney General (OAG) has confirmed that it is not investigating Blatter.

Swiss authorities have launched a separate criminal investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that are set to be held in Russia and Qatar.

No sooner had Blatter announced his decision to resign than English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke raised the possibility that the controversial vote that awarded Qatar the tournament could be rerun.

“If I was the Qatari organisers I wouldn’t sleep very well tonight,” the former TV executive told British media.

In response, Qatar Football Association’s president, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Thani, said in a statement that Qatar had been cleared of any wrongdoing in the FIFA-commissioned Garcia report on corruption.

“Having already cooperated fully with Mr Garcia’s investigation – and been subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing – we welcome the Office of the Swiss Attorney General conducting its own work into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups,” the statement said.

“We would urge Mr Dyke to let the legal process take its course and concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.”

Former US Attorney Michael Garcia was appointed by FIFA in 2012 with the priority of probing the controversial 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests.

He resigned in 2014 after a FIFA judge cleared the World Cup bids, based on his findings – which were never fully released.

At the time, he claimed the judge’s decision contained “numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations” of his investigation.

Senior FIFA officials indicted on corruption charges

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US indicts 14 people as Swiss authorities announce criminal investigation into 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

FIFA

by Al Jazeera

Swiss authorities have arrested seven leading FIFA officials in Zurich on racketeering and bribery charges brought by the United States and announced they have opened a criminal case in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The arrested officials are among 14 people named in a 47-count indictment that was unsealed in federal court in New York City on Wednesday.

Among those charged in the indictment are FIFA Vice President Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner – the current and former presidents of CONCACAF (the continental confederation under FIFA headquartered in the US).

The 14 officials and executives were charged with a bribery and kickback scheme that spanned a 24-year period.

The Justice Department revealed that four individuals and two companies have already pleaded guilty, in a case that has rocked football’s world governing body.

“It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks,” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter was not among the men arrested, FIFA spokesperson Walter de Gregorio confirmed. The governing body’s officials are in Switzerland for the congress as its gets ready to elect  its next president.

“The General Secretary and President have not been arrested,” de Gregorio said in a press conference. “FIFA welcomes this process as it initiated it last November, lodging a legal complaint with the federal attorney.”

“The 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be played in Russia and Qatar. One thing [arrests] has nothing to do with the other and the election will take place as planned.”

The US Department of Justice released a statement confirming the intensity of the investigation, saying that the bribes in question mounted to “well over $150m”.

“The defendants also include US and South American sports marketing executives who are alleged to have systematically paid and agreed to pay well over $150m in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments,” the statement said.

“The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted, both abroad and here in the United States,” added US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

World Cup investigation

Separate to the US indictment, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) issued a statement saying it has “opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 Football World Cups”.

The OAG said it has seized data and documents from FIFA’s IT systems on Wednesday as part of its investigation.

“It is suspected that irregularities occurred in the allocation of the FIFA World Cups of 2018 and 2022,” the OAG statement said.

“The OAG and the Swiss Federal Criminal Police will be questioning 10 persons who took part in voting on the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as members of the Executive Committee in 2010.”

The US is expected to seek extradition of the officials who have been arrested.

Elections still on

FIFA called the arrest a “difficult moment” but said it would not derail President Sepp Blatter’s bid to win a fifth term in an election on Friday.

“It is certainly a difficult moment for us,” added De Gregorio.

“There was never such an idea to postpone the congress nor the election, one thing has nothing to do with the other.”

He said that Blatter was “not dancing in his office” following the arrests but remained “calm” and was prepared to cooperate fully with investigators.

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