Bribery scandal again rocks FIFA

Sepp Blatter

LONDON, (Reuters) – Former English Football  Association chairman David Triesman has accused FIFA executive  committee members Jack Warner, Ricardo Teixeira, Nicolas Leoz  and Worawi Makudi of asking for favours in return for their  votes for England’s 2018 World Cup bid.

Jack Warner

Triesman was giving evidence yesterday to a British  parliamentary inquiry into the reasons why England failed to  secure the finals which were awarded to Russia last December.

Members of Parliament involved in the inquiry also revealed  the names of two other FIFA Executive Committee members who, it  is alleged, were paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar’s  successful 2022 World Cup bid.

Conservative MP Damian Collins said the committee had  evidence from the Sunday Times newspaper which it would publish  that FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Jacques  Anouma of the Ivory Coast were paid by Qatar.

Two other executive committee members were banned by FIFA’s  Ethics Committee last year after a previous Sunday Times  investigation into the World Cup bidding process.

Ricardo Teixeira

The claims are an embarrassment for the game’s governing  body with a total eight of its 24-strong key decision-making  executive committee having now been accused by the British media  or its parliamentary representatives of corruption.

Its 75-year-old president Sepp Blatter will stand for a  further four-year term at its helm on June 1 in Zurich. He was  first elected in 1998. Asian Football Confederation chief  Mohamed Bin Hammam is opposing him.

Triesman spoke at the parliamentary inquiry of the “improper  and unethical behaviour” by the four men he named.

He said the Concacaf’s Warner asked for 2.5 million pounds  ($4.09 million) to be “channelled through me” for an education  centre in his home country Trinidad and Trinidad.


HAITI EARTHQUAKE

After the Haiti earthquake struck leaving that country  devastated, Warner then asked Triesman for 500,000 pounds to buy  Haiti World Cup TV rights.

David Triesman

Triesman said Paraguayan Leoz, president of South America’s  Conmebol, had requested a knighthood in return for his vote  while Brazil’s CBF chief Teixeira told him “Come and tell me  what you have for me”.

Thai Makudi wanted control of the television rights for a  proposed Thailand v England friendly.

“We had a number of conversations with Mr Makudi, telephone  conversations,” Triesman said.

“These were some of the things that were put to me  personally, sometimes in the presence of others, which in my  view did not represent proper and ethical behaviour on the part  of members of the executive committee,” he added.

Leoz declined to comment on Triesman’s claims but the CBF  issued a statement in which Teixeira said he was starting legal  proceedings against Triesman.
Teixeira said an English delegation had asked him for his  vote in an April 2010 meeting at CBF headquarters but Triesman  was not present and he told them Brazil had joined in South  American support for the joint Spain/Portugal bid.

“…the president of the CBF is already taking the relevant  judicial measures with a case against Mr David Triesman for the  absurd comments which in truth attempt to hide his failure in  leading the English candidacy since it only obtained one vote…  its own,” Teixeira’s statement said.


‘TRIESMAN TRIVIA’

Sepp Blatter

Warner, speaking to Britain’s Sky Sports News channel, said:  “I have no intention of dignifying that piece of nonsense of  Triesman who no doubt feels that he can revive his dying  political career by mentioning that piece of foolishness.

“I have never asked Triesman nor any other person,  Englishman or otherwise, for any money for my vote at any time.

“In the English World Cup campaign, before he was  unceremoniously kicked out, I have spoken to Triesman, on his  initiative, only on three occasions, while I have spoken to his  other colleagues on other occasions and not one of his  colleagues will ever corroborate his bit of trivia.”

Swiss Blatter responded to Triesman’s comments at a news  conference in Zurich.

“I was shocked… but one has to see the evidence,” he said.

“There is a new round of information, give us time to  digest that and start the investigation by asking for evidence  on what has been said.

“I repeat, we must have the evidence and we will react  immediately against all those in breach of the ethics code  rules.”

Collins clarified the allegations against Hayatou and  Anouma.

“The Sunday Times submission, and this is to be published by  us later, claims that 1.5 million dollars was paid to FIFA  executive committee members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma who  went on to vote for Qatar 2022,” he said, adding that the  submission also said that Qatar employed a fixer to arrange  deals with African members for their votes.

Mike Lee, who worked as a consultant on Qatar’s bid, tolf  the parliamentary committee: “I personally have never witnessed  any improper behaviour and have no evidence that the allegations  are correct,” he said.

The vote to stage the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was mired in  controversy, with England at the heart of it.

PRIVATE CONVERSATION

Triesman was forced to resign from the FA last year after a  newspaper sting taped him during a private conversation claiming  2018 hosting rivals Spain and Russia were conspiring to bribe  referees at last year’s World Cup in South Africa.

A FIFA investigation found no substance to those allegations  by Triesman.

FIFA banned Nigerian Amos Adamu and Reynauld Temarii of  Tahiti, president of the Oceania Football Confederation, from  its executive committee in November over a report in the Sunday  Times that they had offered to sell their votes.

When England’s bid failed last December, receiving just two  out of 22 votes, it sparked bitter recriminations and Roger  Burden, the acting FA chairman, stated that he could no longer  trust FIFA members and withdrew his candidacy for the job.