Former top FIFA official Chuck Blazer has detailed his bribe-taking as part of a guilty plea in New York.
Blazer, a US citizen who spent two decades as a powerful football official, secretly pleaded guilty to 10 criminal counts in federal court in New York as part of an agreement with US prosecutors, according to a partially blacked out transcript of the hearing released on Wednesday.
According to US officials, Blazer’s cooperation helped build a sprawling corruption case that has led to charges against top FIFA figures and helped prompt the resignation on Tuesday of long time president Sepp Blatter.
Blazer served as an executive committee member of FIFA from 1997 to 2013 and he was also the general secretary of CONCACAF, football’s governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean, from 1990 to 2011.
According to the transcript, during a closed-door proceeding in Brooklyn federal court on the morning of November 25, 2013 Blazer told US District Judge Raymond Dearie.
“Among other things, I agreed with other persons in or around 1992 to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup.”
The tournament was hosted by France but a separate court document contains the allegation that bidding nation Morocco paid a bribe to another FIFA executive and that Blazer acted as the intermediary.
Blazer went on to say that from 2004 and through 2011 “I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup.”
The transcript showed Blazer also facilitated and accepted bribes related to five different editions of CONCACAF’s premier event, the Gold Cup, between 1996 and 2003.
He also admitted to committing tax evasion and to working with others to transfer the money between accounts in an effort to conceal the kickback schemes.
“I knew my actions were wrong at the time,” he said.
Many of the details were previously revealed in charging documents released by US authorities last week, when they announced indictments for 14 people, including nine FIFA officials.
