Jérôme Valcke, a Top FIFA Official, Says He Authorized $10 Million Transfer
By ANDREW ROTHAMARA, Russia — The secretary general of FIFA on Wednesday said that he had authorized a $10 million transfer at the heart of a bribery scandal involving soccer’s governing body, but he maintained that he had done nothing wrong.
During a news conference alongside Russia’s sports minister here, the FIFA official, Jérôme Valcke, also said that the 2018 World Cup in Russia “must be protected” and that bidding for the 2026 World Cup would be temporarily suspended because of the upheaval from the corruption allegations.
Mr. Valcke is the “high-ranking FIFA official” who American investigators say transferred $10 million to accounts controlled by a regional soccer official in the Caribbean. On June 1, Mr. Valcke said in an email to The New York Times that not only had he not authorized the payment, but he did not have the power to do so.
FIFA had sought to distance Mr. Valcke from the payment, saying in a statement June 2 that “neither the Secretary General Jérôme Valcke nor any other member of FIFA’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project,” a reference to the soccer development fund in the Caribbean to which the $10 million had been pledged.
A letter addressed to Mr. Valcke from a South African soccer official about the payments then surfaced, a development that was quickly followed by a surprise announcement from Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, that he would resign.
On Wednesday, Mr. Valcke confirmed that in 2008 he had signed off on what amounted to a $10 million transfer of FIFA funds on behalf of the South African organizing committee of the 2010 World Cup to a Caribbean Football Union account administered by Jack Warner, the former FIFA vice president and one of 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives who have been indicted by the United States for racketeering and other crimes.
American authorities say the $10 million, officially designated to help develop soccer in the Caribbean, was the delayed payment of a bribe for the support of Warner and others in the 2004 vote that saw South Africa’s bid win the rights to host the 2010 World Cup. Mr. Valcke has not been indicted or named as a co-conspirator in the case, and on Wednesday he said he had not been questioned by the police.
Mr. Valcke said that the payment was presented legitimately and that to his knowledge it was not a bribe. In its statement last week, FIFA had said the payment was authorized by the chairman of the finance committee at the time, Julio Grondona. Mr Grondona died last year.
The American indictment does not say that the official referred to knew that the payment was being used as a bribe. If there was malfeasance, Mr. Valcke said, then responsibility does not lie with him, but with the regional soccer associations that should have tracked the use of the money.
“Why is this the fault of FIFA when the money is not FIFA’s money, FIFA has no responsibility on this money, it is South Africa’s money, and it was a gift to the African diaspora in the Caribbean,” he said.
He said that the process was transparent and that he was “amazed that people are jumping on this today.”
“You’ve decided that, after Blatter, I’m the head to be cut?” he said.
In a separate announcement, FIFA on Wednesday scheduled elections on Dec. 16 to select a replacement for Mr. Blatter.
The investigations in the United States and Switzerland into bribery in the World Cup bidding process have raised the question of whether the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar could be moved.
Mr. Blatter and Mr. Valcke have repeatedly dismissed the prospect, but the head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala, said that if evidence emerged that the hosting rights were awarded based on bribery, then the awards “could be invalidated” by FIFA.
Mr. Valcke was in Russia for a meeting with the 2018 World Cup Organizing Committee. Samara, a city on the Volga River, is one of 11 sites designated to host the World Cup. Mr. Valcke said that overall planning for the event was on schedule.
Vitaly L. Mutko, Russia’s sports minister, denounced what he described as a campaign to blacken the reputation of the World Cup, which he said was similar to critical reports in the foreign news media before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Mr. Mutko insisted there were “no threats” to Russia’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup.
Despite calls in some quarters to re-examine the bidding for the 2018 World Cup, Russia’s position seems secure. The country has already made a huge financial investment in preparing for the event, and a decision to strip the tournament from Russia would cause havoc on the field as well, because the UEFA qualifying draw for 2018 is set for next month.
If Russia were not to host the World Cup, the Russian team would have to go through the normal qualifying system, and it would be extremely difficult to alter that process once it has begun.
In addition, only a handful of countries could host the World Cup on such relatively short notice. Any attempt to place the World Cup with two of the most obvious candidates — the United States and England — would be strongly opposed by supporters of Mr. Blatter, who have accused the two countries of maneuvering to oust him as president and of seeking to take the tournament away from Russia and Qatar.
Mr. Valcke did say that bidding for the 2026 World Cup would be delayed — the vote was expected in May 2017 — adding that it would be “nonsense” to hold it in the midst of a scandal. But planning for Russia’s World Cup would go on, he said.
“Whatever is happening at FIFA,” Mr. Valcke said, “the World Cup must be protected.”
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How the Indicted Officials Fit Into FIFARELATED NEWSFIFA suspends 2026 World Cup bidding amid corruption scandal
rt.comFIFA has suspended the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup. The football organization is weathering the storm of a widening corruption scandal that touches on previous selections of host countries.
"Due to the situation, I think it's nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being. It will be postponed," FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke told a news conference in the southern Russian city of Samara.
Potential bidders for 2026 include the US, Mexico, Canada and several European countries. Valcke said the process would not be started anew, it was merely suspended.
The host for the tornament is expected to be chosen by the 209 FIFA members in May 2017 at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Details of the new timetable and rules will be sent to member states soon, Valcke said.
Samara is one of the World Cup 2018 host venues. Valcke was visiting the city to see how preparations for the finals are going.
IFA has been mired by a scandal over alleged bribe taking and other forms of corruption. Valcke himself is connected to this.
Earlier, the BBC published documents allegedly incriminating former FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner of misappropriating $10 million. Warner is among the football executives who were arrested in Zurich in May. US prosecutors alleged the money was paid as a bribe by South Africa to promote its 2010 World Cup bid.
Valcke, who signed the transfer documents shown by the British broadcaster, said he has nothing to answer for.
“If you think I am the next person after [ex FIFA President Sepp] Blatter, I say there is nothing to blame me for,” he said. “Don’t blame us for the fact that the transfer happened. Yes, my [signature] was on it. The question is why nobody asked about it at the time. Why should FIFA be responsible for that misappropriation case? That was not FIFA money.” Blatter was re-elected FIFA president on May 29 amid the unfolding scandal, only to resign his position several days later.
He retains the position of acting president until a new election is conducted at an extraordinary FIFA Congress.