Transparency International to Blatter: Resign now; FIFA officials arrested in Zurich over $100m corruption probes

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Sepp Blatter must resign as president of football’s ruling body FIFA, the non-governmental corruption watchdog, Transparency International, said on Wednesday.
Referring to the corruption scandal in the football house, it said there was no way Blatter could wash himself clean.
“These scandals have taken place under Sepp Blatter’s watch of FIFA, which spans almost two decades,’’ the group’s managing director, Cobus de Swardt, said in a statement hours after news broke of the latest scandals to hit FIFA.
Pressure mounted on FIFA on Wednesday as police detained six football officials in Zurich on US bribery charges.
Prosecutors also seized FIFA documents in a separate probe over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup decisions.
The separate but coordinated investigations came shortly before the expected re-election of Blatter, who seeks a fifth term on Friday in spite of criticism of FIFA’s governance.
The Switzerland Federal Prosecution Authority said it had collected electronic files and documents at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
It suspects that bribes were paid in connection with the decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 event to Qatar.
The prosecutors said documents, as well as banking files that prosecutors obtained, would be used for Swiss and foreign criminal procedures.
They said they plan to question 10 members of the FIFA Executive Committee who were involved in the World Cup decision in 2010, calling the officials “witnesses.”
The Swiss Justice Department said six football officials were arrested at dawn by Swiss police as FIFA delegates were gathered at the Baur au Lac Hotel, ahead of their annual congress opening on Thursday.
They said this was in a separate U.S.-based investigation.
The department said FIFA delegates and functionaries of FIFA sub-organisations are charged with taking bribes from representatives of media and sports promotion firms totaling over $100 million since the early 1990s.
It said the bribe was in return for awarding media and marketing rights for U.S. and Latin American tournaments.
It said Jeffrey Webb, FIFA Vice President and Executive Committee member as well as President of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation CONCAFAF, were among the detainees.
It said there were nine current and former football officials indicted on U.S. corruption charges, including Julio Rocha, current FIFA Development Officer, and Eugenio Figueredo another current FIFA Vice President.
U.S Attorney General, Loretta Lynch said the indictment alleged corruption that was rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and in U.S.

He said investigation revealed that the alleged criminal acts were agreed and prepared in the U.S., and payments were carried out via U.S banks.

Lynch said a search warrant was being executed at CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, Florida.

Blatter was not one of the six arrested persons.

Blatter, 79, was widely expected to be re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president when the congress votes on Friday.

He is being opposed in the election by Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan.

But Transparency International is calling for the suspension of Friday’s election.

Blatter was expected to be confirmed for a fifth term at FIFA’s congress in Zurich with the support of non-European football associations.

“Blatter must stand down and new elections called to mark a new era of FIFA leadership,’’ de Swardt said.

Transparency International has conducted an online poll through the social network and polling app FootballAddicts, which showed that four out of five respondents did not want Blatter to stand for re-election.

Of the 35,000 respondents in 30 countries, 69 per cent said they did not have trust in FIFA.

De Swardt called on all FIFA executive committee members to disclose all conflicts of interest.

“Their hands need to be clean and seen to be clean,’’ he said.

The U.S., Justice Department alleged on Wednesday that former, current and incoming FIFA executive committee members were among those involved in a bribery scheme over football marketing and media rights in the Americas.

Transparency International has been asking FIFA to implement anti-graft measures related to decisions on World Cup hosts, financial flows to regional football bodies and football officials, broadcast and sponsorship rights, as well as ticket sales.
The nine current and former football officials were indicted on corruption charges by the U.S. Justice Department.
They are:
Jeffrey Webb, current FIFA vice-president and executive committee member and president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation (CONCACAF).

Eduardo Li, current FIFA executive committee member-elect, CONCACAF executive committee member and Costa Rican soccer federation (FEDEFUT) president.

Costas Takkas, current attaché to the CONCACAF president.

Eugenio Figueredo, current FIFA vice president and executive committee member. Former president of the South American football federation (CONMEBOL).

Rafael Esquivel, current CONMEBOL executive committee member and Venezuelan soccer federation (FVF) president.

Julio Rocha, current FIFA development officer. Former Central American Football Union (UNCAF) president and Nicaraguan soccer federation (FENIFUT) president.

Jose Maria Marin, current member of the FIFA organising committee for Olympic football tournaments and former Brazilian football federation (CFB) president.

Jack Warner, former FIFA vice president, executive committee member and CONCACAF president.

Nicolas Leoz, former FIFA executive committee member and CONMEBOL president.

In addition, four other defendants in the case are sports marketing executives and one worked in broadcasting.

Four individuals and two corporate defendants have already entered guilty pleas in the case.

These include Charles `Chuck’ Blazer, the long-serving former general secretary of CONCACAF and former U.S. representative on the FIFA executive committee, and Daryll Warner, son of defendant Jack Warner and a former FIFA development officer.
Meanwhile, German football supremo Wolfgang Niersbach said on Wednesday that FIFA has been damaged by the day’s arrests of top officials.

He also noted as damaging the probe into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup host selection.

“It would be shocking if the grave allegations against FIFA members turn out to be true.

“What’s happening in Zurich days ahead of the FIFA congress is shocking and harmful for the whole of football,’’ Niersbach said in a statement.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA opposes a re-election of Blatter and supports challenger Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan.

Niersbach said an informal UEFA meeting in Warsaw ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League final would deal with the upheaval at FIFA.

“We will discuss within UEFA how to act at the upcoming congress in the wake of these incidents,’’ Niersbach said.
UEFA also said in a statement in Warsaw that it was now waiting for additional information.

It said its executive committee would hold an informal meeting in Warsaw later in the day, before the Europa League final between Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Sevilla.

Meanwhile, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, the challenger of the incumbent Joseph Blatter for the FIFA presidency, described the arrest of six officials over corruption allegations as sad, stressing it was a bad day for football. “Today is a sad day for football.

“Clearly this is a developing story, the details of which are still emerging. It will not be appropriate to comment further at this time,’’ he said.

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