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Offline Deeks

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #420 on: June 05, 2015, 08:54:04 PM »
he will still be President of FIFIA for another 4 months minimum that could possibly stretch to another 9 months.

How you come by that "another 9 months" conclusion?

Offline Bakes

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #421 on: June 05, 2015, 09:09:03 PM »
I simply said that Sepp has not said that he is resiging, only that he will not stand again for President.
Not trying to argue with you or anyone else, just trying to be accurate about what he said.
Nor has Sepp resigned yet and he will still be President of FIFIA for another 4 months minimum that could possibly stretch to another 9 months.

You continue to misconstrue what he said, and what is taking place.  Not only did he say he will not be a candidate, he also said he's giving up his mandate and calling for an extraordinary congress to elect a new President.  What do you take "giving up his mandate" to mean... if not that he's resigning? 

FIFA statues call for a 4-month period before an extraordinary congress can be called, which means the next possible date will be sometime in late September/early October.  What do you think they will be doing at this extraordinary congress, if not electing a new President?

Offline Socapro

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #422 on: June 05, 2015, 09:19:36 PM »
he will still be President of FIFIA for another 4 months minimum that could possibly stretch to another 9 months.

How you come by that "another 9 months" conclusion?

According to article at this link (http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=21817.msg927229#msg927229) at Reply #393 in this very thread, the new elections can be held anytime between December 2015 and March 2016 which works out at 4 months minimum and 9 months maximum.

« Last Edit: June 05, 2015, 09:30:31 PM by Socapro »
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

Offline Socapro

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #423 on: June 05, 2015, 09:29:56 PM »
I simply said that Sepp has not said that he is resiging, only that he will not stand again for President.
Not trying to argue with you or anyone else, just trying to be accurate about what he said.
Nor has Sepp resigned yet and he will still be President of FIFIA for another 4 months minimum that could possibly stretch to another 9 months.

You continue to misconstrue what he said, and what is taking place.  Not only did he say he will not be a candidate, he also said he's giving up his mandate and calling for an extraordinary congress to elect a new President.  What do you take "giving up his mandate" to mean... if not that he's resigning? 

FIFA statues call for a 4-month period before an extraordinary congress can be called, which means the next possible date will be sometime in late September/early October.  What do you think they will be doing at this extraordinary congress, if not electing a new President?

Where did I say they won't be electing a new FIFA President at the extraordinary congress?

You didn't post anything there that I don't already know or disagree with. I already explained that I have no argument with you other that correcting what you stated that he said he would resign. Blatter never used those words but words more to the effect that he will not run for the post of President again, which you found it necessary to try to argue about.

Let’s move on Bakes as this argument you seem to be salivating for is pointless and very petty and you are now resorting to making up stuff to argue about.
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

Offline Bakes

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #424 on: June 05, 2015, 09:33:16 PM »
Where did I say they won't be electing a new FIFA President at the extraordinary congress?

You didn't post anything there that I don't already know or disagree with. I already explained that I have no argument with you other that correcting what you stated that he said he would resign. Blatter never used those words but words more to the effect that he will not run for the post of President again, which you found it necessary to try to argue about.

Let’s move on Bakes as this argument you seem to be salivating for is pointless and very petty and you are now resorting to making up stuff to argue about.

The next regularly scheduled election is in four years... he didn't simply say he won't be running for election again, but yes, let's just leave you in your little confused world arguing to yourself that Blatter isn't resigning.

Offline Socapro

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #425 on: June 05, 2015, 09:39:46 PM »
Where did I say they won't be electing a new FIFA President at the extraordinary congress?

You didn't post anything there that I don't already know or disagree with. I already explained that I have no argument with you other that correcting what you stated that he said he would resign. Blatter never used those words but words more to the effect that he will not run for the post of President again, which you found it necessary to try to argue about.

Let’s move on Bakes as this argument you seem to be salivating for is pointless and very petty and you are now resorting to making up stuff to argue about.

The next regularly scheduled election is in four years... he didn't simply say he won't be running for election again, but yes, let's just leave you in your little confused world arguing to yourself that Blatter isn't resigning.

Fella, I never said that Blatter is not going to resign from his position as FIFA President. What I said is that he never used the word resign in the speech he made which you claimed he did in your effort to correct what I said about him saying that he will not run for the position again.

Now continue to imagine whatever you wish for the sake of another pointless ego-tripping argument. It’s obvious you can't help yourself.
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #426 on: June 06, 2015, 07:51:56 AM »
Venezuela Football Federation Offices Raided After Rafael Esquivel Arrest
Thomas Barrabi (International Business Times)


Authorities raided the Venezuelan Football Federation’s offices in Caracas on Wednesday, days after Swiss police arrested the organization’s president, Rafael Esquivel, in Zurich. Esquivel was one of nine current and former FIFA employees the U.S. Justice Department indicted last week on corruption charges.

The raid, which was carried out by members of Venezuela's military intelligence, was conducted “as part of the investigation into alleged irregularities” related to Esquivel’s actions, Venezuela’s Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement obtained by Reuters. Esquivel has served as the Venezuelan Football Federation’s president since 1988. Authorities did not provide further information on the raid.

Esquivel was one of seven individuals arrested May 27 at a Zurich hotel by Swiss authorities acting at the U.S. Justice Department’s behest. The indicted international soccer executives stand accused of various forms of corruption, including money laundering and accepting more than $150 million in bribes and illegal kickbacks in exchange for preferential treatment on media and marketing rights, according to a U.S. Justice Department’s press release.

The CONMEBOL Copa America soccer, South America’s premier soccer tournament, was among the events impacted by alleged corruption. Esquivel is a CONMEBOL executive committee member. He could be extradited to the United States to face the corruption charges, Reuters reported.

The arrests came just hours before the start of the 65th FIFA Congress in Zurich, where the international soccer governing body held its presidential elections. Sepp Blatter, the longtime FIFA president who dodged scandal after scandal during his time in office, was not directly implicated in the corruption scandal. He won re-election on May 29, but resigned from the post in a surprise announcement earlier this week.

“While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA,” Blatter said in a statement. “Therefore, 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.”


Venezuela Freezes Accounts of Country's Disgraced Soccer Chief (Telesur)

Venezuela's attorney general office Wednesday requested that the freezing of bank accounts and assets of Rafael Esquivel, the former president of the Venezuelan Football Federation. ​Esquivel was arrested last week in Zurich along with other eight officials from the soccer's global governing body and four executives of sports management companies over his role in the FIFA scandal. All of the indicted have been charged with corruption charges by the U.S. Justice Department, who is requesting their extradition to the United States

According to the investigation, at least US$150 million were paid out in "bribes and kickbacks" in exchange for media and marketing rights to international tournaments. The recent resignation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, just days after being re-elected to head the organization for a fifth term, underscores the depth of the crisis facing the powerful sports organization. The U.S. government also announced that the bank accounts of all those involved in the so-called “FIFA Gate” have been also frozen.

Lawyers defending Esquivel requested his release for health reasons, arguing that he has renal failure which has kept him away from his activities last year. Venezuelan media reported Wednesday that a Swiss court is requesting his bail be set to at least US$3-4 Million. President Nicolas Maduro urged authorities to conduct an investigation on the country’s soccer federation, joining other regional leaders including Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in weighing in on the scanda. Maduro also suggested that Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona would be a good choice as next FIFA president, after the organizations officials announced new elections would take place between December and March.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2015, 07:54:04 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #427 on: June 08, 2015, 04:06:40 AM »
Sancho calls for Jack to account for missing funds
T&T Newsday Reports.


SPORTS MINISTER Brent Sancho has called for embattled former football administrator Jack Warner to account for the US$10 million, which was sent to him from FIFA, on behalf of South Africa, to use for its Caribbean diaspora legacy programme.

According to documents shown by BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in an article yesterday, Warner used the payment for cash withdrawals, personal loans and to launder money. Sancho, in the same BBC story, said, “he (Warner) must face justice, he must answer all of these questions. Justice has to be served.

“He will have to account, with this investigation, he will have to answer for his actions.”

The documents also show US$360,000 of the Fifa money was withdrawn by people connected to Warner.

Nearly $1.6million was used to pay the former Fifa vice-president’s credit cards and personal loans.

The documents show the largest personal loan Mr Warner provided for himself was US$410,000. The largest credit card payment was US$87,000.

Sancho said he is now angry and disappointed.

“I’m devastated because a lot of that money should have been back in football, back in the development of children playing the sport. It is a travesty. Mr Warner should answer the questions,” he added.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #428 on: June 08, 2015, 05:22:38 AM »
Jose Mourinho believes FIFA corrupted 2012 World Coach of the Year vote
By Duncan Day


Generally open and honest about his thoughts to the media, Cheslea manager Jose Mourinho is not shy about making headlines.

Today, he’s hinted that FIFA could have corrupted the 2012 World Coach of the Year award as he finished in second place to Vicente del Bosque.

He uttered similar comments in 2013 but now with the news of FIFA corruption, starting with the arrests of several officials in Zurich, his insight looks to have some backing behind it.

Del Bosque gained 34.1 percent of the votes to Mourinho’s 20.1 percent to win the accolade which is voted on by players, coaches and members of FIFA.

[TRANSFERS: Papadopoulos completes Bayer Leverkusen switch]

Concluding with “obviously something happened,” the Portuguese boss profiles the situation below, per ESPN FC.

“In 2012, I was one of the three finalists and when I was told I was finishing second with a few votes behind the first, it looked normal to me.

“But then the votes were made public. And my former player, a national team captain, called me, ‘Mister, there is something wrong. Because obviously, obviously, I gave you the vote, then in the list they put another coach’s name and that was not me.’

“A few minutes later my Portuguese friend, a national team coach, called me, ‘Mister, don’t believe what you see in the list because obviously I vote for you.’

“And a few minutes later I got a message from another national coach, ‘they changed my vote.’Who changed the vote? His federation? FIFA? Who?…It is not a drama. A drama is other things but at that time I said, ‘from this moment I don’t go back’ because obviously something happened.”


This quote from Mourinho is interesting but assuming FIFA did rig this vote, what would Del Bosque have to do with anything? Maybe it could have been a personal preference of a certain billionaire, debating on funding FIFA in some way, to have Del Bosque win it.

The FIFA money circle, after all, must be fairly extensive.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #429 on: June 08, 2015, 05:23:51 AM »
Morocco, not South Africa, won 2010 World Cup bid, according to report
By Louis Bien


Jack Warner allegedly solicited bribes from multiple countries to secure votes for their 2010 World Cup bids, then stabbed them in the back when South Africa was willing to pay more.

Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner accepted a $1 million bribe to back Morocco's bid for the 2010 World Cup, but gave his support to the South Africa campaign because it gave him more money, the Telegraph reports. South Africa was awarded the bid despite the fact that Morocco allegedly earned more votes, according to the report.

Morocco was not the only casualty of Warner's loose morals. The Telegraph reports that sources associated with Egypt's campaign claim Warner was offering seven World Cup selection votes at a price of $1 million each. Egypt did not receive a single vote as a result of what the Telegraph called an attempted "triple cross."

South Africa's offering was reportedly much more lucrative. One South African newspaper claimed to have a 2007 email of FIFA president Sepp Blatter and South African president Thabo Mbeki discussing an alleged payment of $10 million into Warner's bank account.

Warner was one of the central figures nabbed in an investigation by the United States Department of Justice that found rampant corruption throughout the highest levels of FIFA leadership. Charges included wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

The World Cup selection process may be the most clear example of FIFA's corruption. Another FIFA executive, Chuck Blazer, admitted he solicited bribes from the South Africa campaign, and the selections of Russia and Qatar for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups have roundly been called into question.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #430 on: June 08, 2015, 07:13:45 AM »
With all the disquiet regarding the bidding process, and discussion about who should get 2022, lost in it is that Morocco has made four attempts over roughly ... what 25 years? ... to host a WC, and might be able to state a reasonable case for consideration as an alternative or ameliorating venue. BUT, having pissed off Hayatou and Sepp by pulling out as host nation for the Africa Cup of Nations (due to Ebola concerns), I doubt they would have received even a glance from Sepp (or support from Hayatou) if Sepp were staying on, and was going to be influential in the process.

Now, I'm not so sure. With Sepp exiting the stage, who knows.

However, although Morocco is a CAF nation (and not AFC), one of the things it likely has to factor in is what, if any, potential consequences exist for a breakdown in Qatari-Moroccan relations. One would imagine it can't at present be seen as aggressively trying to derail Qatar.

It creates an interesting situation because after four WC bids and losing to fellow CAF nation South Affica for 2010 ... apparently unjustly ... Morocco ought to be at the top of the line to host any WC, but is it unlikely another African nation would or could get to host soon after South Africa? Possibly. Not exactly a long span between France '98 and Germany '06.

In my view doh, of all the nations (including the US), Canada is the nation that's stating and building the most compelling case for hosting 2026. If Morocco wants in, and any policy change occurs regarding Qatar, Morocco is best advised to go that route. 2026 makes sense for Canada hosting.
« Last Edit: June 09, 2015, 05:08:36 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline davyjenny1

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #431 on: June 08, 2015, 08:35:17 PM »
This is just another embarrassment for T&T - I'm not really looking forward to all the BS we will see in the media if they try to extradite Warner.
This extradition process is a long way off. Whoever open the cookie jar maybe that finger may get pointed right back at the source. Many questions to ask; 1990 world cup,1994 world cup, the gold cup and many others. The person who have all the onions on Blatter is Jack as we-all know. Stay tuned for up dated developments as they are put out by the media outlets.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2015, 08:43:20 PM by davyjenny1 »
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Offline Deeks

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #432 on: June 08, 2015, 10:37:46 PM »
All of them were on the bloody take. The SA WC was a kind of gift to Mandela for the way he handled the transition from the apartheid situation.  It was a new Rainbow nation and all the goodwill that was extended to white South African by the Mandela regime. They convinced everyone to give it to South Africa. Look one set of Euro teams would go to SA and play and all a team would go to see Mandela. I remember AC Milan(we they were Euro top dogs) being hosted by the Mdiba himself. In addition they had hosted the Rugby WC a couple years before.

But yes, Morocco was always making a bid for the WC for years now. The lost out to Germany(2006). One of their main point is their proximity to Euro. And it is compelling. I am almost sure they would have been the next CAF nation to get it. Who else in Africa can host the WC. Morocco appears to be the most stable country on the continent. Egypt has real issues with the military in charge. For the past two years FIFA had hosted the World Club championships there. That to me was a kind of trial run for their bid. They have a compelling case to be host.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #433 on: June 09, 2015, 09:09:28 PM »
Argentine Media Executive Wanted in FIFA Case Surrenders
By Manuela Mesco And Giovanni Legorano (The Wall Street Journal)


An Argentine media executive who was indicted by U.S. prosecutors in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving former and current FIFA officials surrendered to Italian police after being wanted by authorities for two weeks, Italian police said.

Alejandro Burzaco, the former chairman and chief executive of Argentine media company Torneos SA, turned himself in to police in Bolzano in northern Italy early Tuesday, the police said.

According to a Bolzano police official and the Italian Interior Ministry, after he surrendered, Mr. Burzaco said he intended to give information on the FIFA scandal. A spokeswoman for the Italian police said Mr. Burzaco was accompanied by three lawyers—one Milan-based attorney and two Spanish-speaking attorneys. The lawyers couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“Alejandro Burzaco surrendered today so he could expedite his arrival in the U.S. to address the charges head on,” said Sean Casey, a lawyer at Kobre & Kim in New York also representing Mr. Burzaco, in an emailed statement. Mr. Casey didn’t immediately reply to requests for additional comment.

The Argentine media executive issued his latest public statement on Twitter on May 26, saying he was on his way to Zurich to attend FIFA meetings. He wasn’t heard from publicly after the U.S. indictments were unsealed that day. Bolzano is about 200 miles from Zurich.

At the request of the U.S. government, Interpol issued a so-called Red Notice last week alerting authorities that there was a U.S. arrest warrant for Mr. Burzaco, along with two other Argentine executives and one Brazilian media executive, who are still being sought by law enforcement.

The U.S. indictment charged Mr. Burzaco, 50 years old, with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.

Mr. Burzaco, who Interpol says has Argentine and Italian citizenship, allegedly played a key role in a suspected $110 million bribery scheme involving top soccer officials to secure broadcasting rights of regional tournaments for his firm, U.S. prosecutors said.When Mr. Burzaco turned himself in, Italian police detained him, but didn’t immediately place him under arrest.

Later in the day, an Italian judge ordered his arrest, said a spokesman for the Italian Interior Ministry. That judge ruled in favor of a request by Mr. Burzaco’s lawyers to place him under house arrest in a home he rented in the Bolzano area shortly before turning himself in to police Tuesday morning, said the spokesman. The spokesman said Mr. Burzaco would be moved to that home Tuesday evening.

The U.S. now has to submit an extradition request to the Italians, and an Italian court will decide whether to grant it. However, Mr. Burzaco told Italian authorities on Tuesday that he won’t oppose extradition to the U.S., said the interior ministry spokesman.

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.

Mr. Burzaco had close ties to top Argentine politicians and senior soccer officials at Argentina’s national soccer federation, said media executives and lawyers familiar with Mr. Burzaco’s career.

Torneos, one of Argentina’s biggest sports-marketing firms, fired Mr. Burzaco last week. The Buenos Aires-based company said it was conducting an internal investigation and that it was seeking to assist authorities in their probe into Mr. Burzaco´s case.

Torneos won most rights to broadcast editions of the Copa America regional soccer tournament and World Cups including last year’s World Cup in Brazil and the Copa America, set to kick off in Chile on Thursday.

A Torneos official said Mr. Burzaco no longer works for the company and that it wouldn’t be making further comment.

Argentina’s national soccer confederation declined to comment.

Offline E-man

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Fifa: Sepp Blatter's successor could be chosen on 16 December
« Reply #434 on: June 10, 2015, 10:34:01 AM »
Fifa: Sepp Blatter's successor could be chosen on 16 December
by Richard Conway (BBC)


Sepp Blatter's 17-year reign as boss of crisis-hit Fifa could come to an end on 16 December.


The BBC has learned that is the likely date for an emergency meeting in Zurich to decide his successor.
Representatives from all 209 member associations will be invited to the Swiss city to vote in a new presidential election.

Blatter, 79, quit as president of world football's governing body just four days after being re-elected last month.

The Swiss tended his resignation amid two corruption probes of his organisation.

Seven Fifa officials were arrested on 27 May following a dawn raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich.

They were among 14 officials and associates indicted by United States authorities on racketeering and bribery charges.

Swiss prosecutors have also begun a criminal investigation into how the rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were awarded.

Sarah Rainsford, BBC Moscow correspondent:
"Jerome Valcke is clearly frustrated he's become the focus of so much speculation in this corruption probe. When I intercepted him, to ask about whether he knew of a $10m (£6.4m) suspected bribe allegedly paid by South Africa to Jack Warner, he called me "a pain" and walked away. But at a press conference later he singled me out to respond. This was, after all, his first public engagement since the whole Fifa crisis broke. So the secretary general mounted a long and passionate self-defence. The funds were not Fifa money, he argued, but from the local World Cup committee in South Africa. As such, he had no responsibility to track where they went. After almost 10 minutes, Jerome Valcke said he would say no more on the matter: "It's closed." But the awkward questions to him - and to Fifa - surely won't stop."

There is a long list of potential successors for Blatter.

Among the possible candidates is Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, who lost out to Blatter in last month's election.
A final decision on the date for a presidential election is not expected to be made until July, when Fifa will hold an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee.

But it is believed holding an emergency congress in mid-December is Blatter's preferred option.

That would give him just six months to devise and implement the reforms he has promised before leaving the organisation he has been a part of for more than 40 years.

Domenico Scala, Fifa's independent head of audit and compliance, outlined last week that the process to replace Blatter would happen between December 2015 and March 2016.

With the threat of further criminal indictments being handed down from US law enforcement agencies in the coming weeks or months, it appears Blatter has no desire to extend his tenure into 2016.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Fifa officials, led by secretary general Jerome Valcke, is in Russia, visiting one of the sites for the 2018 World Cup.

There have been suggestions the tournament could be stripped from the Russians if any wrongdoing is exposed by the new investigation into the bidding process.

However, Alexei Sorokin, head of the local organising committee, told BBC's HARDtalk that the bid was clean, transparent and "done in accordance with all the practices that are in place in Fifa".

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #435 on: June 11, 2015, 02:34:36 AM »
Jérôme Valcke, a Top FIFA Official, Says He Authorized $10 Million Transfer
By ANDREW ROTH


AMARA, 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.”

LINK - How the Indicted Officials Fit Into FIFA

RELATED NEWS

FIFA suspends 2026 World Cup bidding amid corruption scandal
rt.com


FIFA 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.

« Last Edit: June 11, 2015, 02:42:34 AM by Flex »
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Swiss investigators seize Blatter and Valcke documents in FIFA raid
« Reply #436 on: June 11, 2015, 06:45:16 PM »
Swiss investigators seize Blatter and Valcke documents in FIFA raid
worldsoccer.com


Documents seized as probe into 2018 and 2022 World Cup continues.


Swiss investigators, acting for the attorney-general’s offices, have seized more documents and electronic data from FIFA headquarters in their inquiries into the 2018-2022 World Cup bid scandal.

The haul is understood to include material from the offices of president Sepp Blatter and the secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, who is under scrutiny over a $10m payment from South African World Cup organisers to the former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner. Authorities in the United States have alleged that this payment was a bribe. Valcke, along with Blatter, denies any wrongdoing.

Swiss prosecutors and the FBI are looking into the controversial bidding process for the 2018 tournament, to be played in Russia, and the 2022 World Cup, awarded to Qatar.

Meanwhile, the head of the German FA has called for term limits for the FIFA presidency and suggested the one member, one vote system for FIFA’s 209 associations should be up for discussion. Wolfsgang Niersbach also suggested that preliminary technical reports should be used to remove the weakest candidates for the World Cup.

“If FIFA had deployed this process then Qatar, with the weakest technical evaluation, would not even have reached the vote,” he said.

The pressure on FIFA will grow on Thursday when the European Parliament debates a motion for Blatter to step down immediately.

The motion, which expresses the parliament’s “long-held view” that FIFA is full of “systemic, widespread and persistent fraud and corruption”, says the credibility of football’s governing body will not be restored until Blatter has gone and widespread reforms are instituted.

Blatter has said he would step down once a successor is chosen – likely to be in December.

Meanwhile, the Brazil legend Zico has confirmed he intends to stand for the presidency of FIFA, insisting it is his “duty”.

“It’s sad for our sport to see what is happening in football today – the corruption… and the hard work of many other good people wasted – and I see it as my duty to use my experience and knowledge to try and stand for the presidency,” he said.


Read more at http://www.worldsoccer.com/news/swiss-investigators-seize-blatter-and-valcke-documents-in-fifa-raid-362710#ySeHw2XTmYKWEA80.99

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #437 on: June 15, 2015, 06:21:44 PM »
Blatter could remain as FIFA head, close adviser tells Sky
Reuters.


Sepp Blatter could still perform a U-turn on his promise to stand down as FIFA president, a former adviser said on Monday, while FIFA did not directly deny the possibility.

Klaus Stoehlker, who advised Blatter during the recent election campaign, told Sky News that Blatter could remain head of world soccer’s governing body if a “convincing candidate” to replace him did not emerge.

FIFA said in a statement that Stoehlker, who was in a meeting when contacted by Reuters and unable to comment, was no longer working with Blatter.

“Klaus Stoehlker’s mandate from the FIFA President ended on 31 May 2015. The FIFA President would like to point to his remarks from 2 June,” it said, referring to Blatter’s announcement that he would call a new election in which he would not be a candidate.

English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke does not think Blatter will have a change of heart.

“I think it (a U-turn) is extremely unlikely. I think it would be very controversial,” Dyke told Reuters

“There would be a rebellion amongst a lot of people (if he did).”

However, Blatter has changed his mind in the past. In 2011, he said his fourth mandate would be his last but he stood again this year.

Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president on May 29 when his opponent Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein withdrew after Blatter had won the first round of voting by 133 to 73.

Four days later, as corruption allegations continued to batter FIFA, Blatter said he would stand down and call a new election, due to be held between December and February.

The FBI is investigating bribery and corruption at FIFA, including scrutiny of how soccer’s governing body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell noted on Monday that the investigation into FIFA is not shouldered solely by the United States and is instead shared by international law enforcement partners.

The U.S. Justice Department “has worked closely with the lead FIFA prosecutors to obtain evidence from numerous countries across the globe,” Caldwell said at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners conference in Baltimore.

“Far from acting as the world’s corruption police, the United States is part of a formidable and growing coalition of international enforcement partners who together combat corruption around the world.” The confusion surrounding FIFA’s leadership took a new twist on Sunday when the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper reported that Blatter, 79, may seek to stay on as president.

The report said Blatter had received messages of support from African and Asian football associations, who voted for him at the election and want him to reconsider his decision.

Blatter was honoured by the support and had not ruled out remaining in office, the newspaper said, citing an anonymous source close to him.

Africa’s soccer confederation (CAF) said on Monday that it had not heard of any of its members asking Blatter to stay on.

“At CAF level we are not aware of any African countries who have written to ask Blatter to stay on,” Kalusha Bwalya, a CAF executive committee member and president of the Football Association of Zambia, told Reuters.

“We feel it is better to get on with our own work in the meantime and see what everyone has to say in the next months. Everybody is waiting for clarity.”

“At the moment there are a lot of rumours floating about and everyone is rushing to turn the smallest piece of information into a story.”

UEFA insiders told Reuters that European soccer’s governing body was left perplexed by the reports that Blatter would stand again and that the plot would be too outrageous even for a Hollywood script.

Officially, European soccer’s governing body did not want to comment but the German football association (DFB) called on Blatter, who is staying on until the election, to leave quickly.

“We only know the media reports which strengthen our clear position,” spokesman Ralf Koettker told reporters. “Blatter’s announced resignation must be formally completed as soon as possible.”

Germany coach Joachim Loew said: “As far as I can speak as a coach, FIFA must have a new structure and there has to be a certain new start because all of this has damaged football, and that was dangerous. I think resigning from a resignation should normally not happen.”

However, Domenico Scala, the official overseeing the process of choosing a new president, said on Sunday that Blatter’s departure was an “indispensable” part of planned reforms to soccer’s governing body.

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Chuck Blazer agreed to go undercover at Fifa to avoid potential 75-year sentence
By Rupert Neate (theguardian.com)


Former Fifa executive Chuck Blazer agreed to go “undercover” to help the US government expose widespread corruption across world football in order to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison, according to details of his plea bargain made public on Monday.

Blazer, 70, pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including bribery, money laundering and tax evasion, in 2013. The charges carried a maximum concurrent imprisonment term of 75 years, but Blazer agreed to become an informant for the FBI and US justice department – and collect evidence implicating other Fifa executives – in return for immunity from prosecution.

The plea bargain agreement reveals that Blazer, who was general secretary of the North and Central American Concacaf governing body, began providing information to the authorities in December 2011 – more than three years before the US government charged 14 current and former Fifa officials with “hijacking” international football to run “a World Cup of fraud” to line their pockets by $150m.

Blazer, who was a Fifa executive committee member from 1997 to 2013, secretly pleaded guilty in November 2013 in a closed Brooklyn courtroom. According to his plea bargain, which was redacted in parts, Blazer admitted that he, along with other Fifa officials, accepted bribes for voting for South Africa’s bid for the 2010 World Cup and a bribe related to the 1998 World Cup in France.

“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,” he told the judge in the secret court session in November 2013.

He told the judge his involvement in the acceptance of bribes in connection with the South African bid began “in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011”. In a nod to a wider top-level conspiracy at Fifa, Blazer added: “My actions described above had common participants and results.”

South Africa won the right to stage the 2010 World Cup in 2004, after missing out on the 2006 tournament to Germany in controversial circumstances.

Blazer also admitted to accepting bribes related to five Concacaf Gold Cup tournaments between 1996 and 2003.

In exchange for avoiding jail time, Blazer agreed to “provide truthful, complete and accurate information” to prosecutors and to “participate in undercover activities pursuant to the specific instructions of law enforcement agents”. Blazer also agreed to testify at future trials of his former Fifa colleagues and pay back more than $11m in taxes he avoided.

The fallout from the US investigation into Fifa has led to an unprecedented crisis for the governance of world football, forcing the dramatic resignation of Fifa’s longtime president, Sepp Blatter.
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FIFA soccer scandal exposes Caribbean’s corrupt underbelly
« Reply #439 on: June 16, 2015, 08:24:23 AM »
FIFA soccer scandal exposes Caribbean’s corrupt underbelly
By David Adams (Reuters)


At a Caribbean anti-corruption conference in the Cayman Islands in March last year, politicians and activists called on regional leaders to create a culture of integrity and transparency with zero tolerance for offenders. It didn’t seem to matter to the organizer that one of the main sponsors was the regional soccer body CONCACAF that was mired in a big bribery scandal.

That organizer, the University College of the Cayman Islands, trumpeted CONCACAF’s involvement and said the aim of the gathering was “to raise awareness of the potential for corruption and decline in ethical standards across all the various sectors of society, including sports, and the consequent damaging effect on economies and social harmony.”

Little more than a year later, CONCACAF is at the center of the turmoil engulfing FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, following U.S. prosecutors’ indictment last month of nine current and former officials and five business executives in a $150 million corruption case.

Of the nine, four were members of CONCACAF, which also represents countries in North and Central America. The two most prominent from the Caribbean were former CONCACAF president Jack Warner, from Trinidad and Tobago, and the man who replaced him in that job - Jeffrey Webb from the Caymans, who was a speaker at the conference. Both had also served as FIFA vice presidents and members of its powerful 24-member executive committee.

From the tiny Caymans, a British dependent territory, to the larger independent nations of Jamaica and Trinidad, the scandal has left the region facing questions about whether a culture of corruption is embedded in small island politics and society. The abuse of soccer, which has overtaken cricket and athletics in popularity in the region, has become a symbol of that problem.

"There is a Jack Warner or two in every Caribbean parliament today," said  political scientist Tennyson Joseph at the University of the West Indies in Barbados, noting that poor public services in some islands had opened the door to populist would-be Robin Hoods.

The scandal also risks damaging the island economies by deterring U.S. and other foreign banks from dealing with banks in the region.

"Due to compliance requirements it's getting more and more difficult for local banks to find a correspondent bank that will take Caribbean business," said David Jessop, a veteran consultant to the Caribbean Council, a London-based non-profit trade advisory group.

The indictment details a series of wire transfers between Caribbean banks and U.S. banks, and the U.S. authorities have indicated they will be reviewing such transactions to see if any institutions knowingly facilitated bribe payments.

BLATTER PRAISED

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who announced on June 2 he will step down, is widely regarded in the Caribbean as a hero for championing developing countries, giving them the same power as big soccer playing countries in votes at the annual FIFA Congress and providing funds to develop the sport in the region.

The corruption questions facing Blatter were “a small price to pay for all the good he has done," wrote sportscaster Orville Higgins in the Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner last week.

A number of former soccer officials, even those tainted by this scandal and earlier corruption investigations, have retained political influence.

Warner, for example, was reelected to parliament in Trinidad despite his resignation as FIFA vice president and CONCACAF president in 2011 after he was the subject of a FIFA probe into his role at a meeting where bribes were paid to officials in the region.

The U.S. indictment alleges that beginning in the early 1990s, Warner “began to leverage his influence and exploit his official positions for personal gain,” including soliciting and accepting bribes for his executive committee vote in the selection of who would host the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and 2010.

He has denied the charges and is fighting extradition from Trinidad to the U.S. Warner and his lawyer declined to speak with Reuters for this article.

His two sons, Daryll Warner, a former FIFA development officer, and Daryan Warner, have pleaded guilty to wire fraud and other financial crimes in the same U.S. case. For Daryan, e the charges largely relate to his obtaining tickets to World Cup games fraudulently and selling them at a substantial profit.

In 2011, FIFA’s ethics committee investigated dozens of Caribbean soccer officials in what became known as the cash-for-votes scandal, following allegations that representatives of each federation in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) received envelopes stuffed with $40,000 in return for supporting Asian Football Confederation head Mohammed Bin Hammam in that year’s presidential election.

Ten were sanctioned and five others issued warnings. FIFA initially suspended Jack Warner for his role in helping Bin Hammam but the case against him was dropped by FIFA when he resigned all of his soccer positions.

Several continue to hold key posts, including Caribbean Football Union president Gordon Derrick of Antigua and CONCACAF Vice President Horace Burrell of Jamaica.

Burrell was banned for three months from taking part in any football-related activity for apparent violations of FIFA’s code of ethics at the 2011 CFU meeting. Later that year, the committee gave Derrick a reprimand and a fine of 300 Swiss Francs ($322) for code of ethics violations at the same meeting.

Burrell and Derrick did not respond to requests for comment.

Burrell, a retired Jamaican army captain, is credited with helping Jamaica's team, known as the 'Reggae Boyz’, qualify for its only World Cup Finals in 1998. A food chain Burrell owns – the Captain’s Bakery – has sponsored some of the lower level leagues, also helping his popularity. He also teamed up with Webb to bring one of the chain's outlets to the Caymans.

Webb’s arrest stunned many in the Caymans He had built a reputation as an official who could clean up CONCACAF after Warner’s reign, and was seen as a potential successor to Blatter.

An attorney for Webb declined to comment.

BLIND EYE

Experts on Caribbean politics say none of this should be a surprise.

Joseph from Barbados, pointed to an "under-developed democratic culture" in the Caribbean that could turn a blind eye to public corruption, deemed petty and excusable.

The Caribbean lacks campaign finance laws creating a "black hole in dealing with corruption," said Trevor Munroe, the region's most prominent political scientist at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.

But that could be changing. Legislation before the Jamaican parliament seeks to regulate political contributions for the first time. Another bill would create an independent anti-corruption commission. Similar legislation has also been introduced in Trinidad.

The scandal has also opened up other fissures in society, such as those between locals and foreigners living in the Caribbean. 

When the Caymans only daily paper, the Cayman Compass, ran an editorial suggesting Webb was part of a culture of corruption on the small island chain, the publishers were accused of treason by the head of the government.

Premier Alden McLaughlin suggested the paper's American owners were foreigners with no understanding of the island way of life. The publishers, David and Vicki Legge, saying they didn’t feel safe, fled to South Florida.

For those running soccer teams in the region it has led to a lot of soul searching.

"Somewhere along the way historically we have lost the idea of what the role of soccer and sport is in human development," said Renard Moxom, director of the Caymans national soccer teams.  "We need to get back to the real purpose of promoting the game. We really need to protect it. It's in a fragile state right now."

(Additional reporting by Linda Hutchinson-Jafar in Port of Spain, Horace Helps in Kingston, and Brian Homewood in Zurich; Editing by Martin Howell)
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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #440 on: June 16, 2015, 12:26:10 PM »
Blatter could remain as FIFA head, close adviser tells Sky
Reuters.


Sepp Blatter could still perform a U-turn on his promise to stand down as FIFA president, a former adviser said on Monday, while FIFA did not directly deny the possibility.

Klaus Stoehlker, who advised Blatter during the recent election campaign, told Sky News that Blatter could remain head of world soccer’s governing body if a “convincing candidate” to replace him did not emerge.

FIFA said in a statement that Stoehlker, who was in a meeting when contacted by Reuters and unable to comment, was no longer working with Blatter.

“Klaus Stoehlker’s mandate from the FIFA President ended on 31 May 2015. The FIFA President would like to point to his remarks from 2 June,” it said, referring to Blatter’s announcement that he would call a new election in which he would not be a candidate.

English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke does not think Blatter will have a change of heart.

“I think it (a U-turn) is extremely unlikely. I think it would be very controversial,” Dyke told Reuters

“There would be a rebellion amongst a lot of people (if he did).”

However, Blatter has changed his mind in the past. In 2011, he said his fourth mandate would be his last but he stood again this year.

Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president on May 29 when his opponent Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein withdrew after Blatter had won the first round of voting by 133 to 73.

Four days later, as corruption allegations continued to batter FIFA, Blatter said he would stand down and call a new election, due to be held between December and February.

The FBI is investigating bribery and corruption at FIFA, including scrutiny of how soccer’s governing body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell noted on Monday that the investigation into FIFA is not shouldered solely by the United States and is instead shared by international law enforcement partners.

The U.S. Justice Department “has worked closely with the lead FIFA prosecutors to obtain evidence from numerous countries across the globe,” Caldwell said at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners conference in Baltimore.

“Far from acting as the world’s corruption police, the United States is part of a formidable and growing coalition of international enforcement partners who together combat corruption around the world.” The confusion surrounding FIFA’s leadership took a new twist on Sunday when the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper reported that Blatter, 79, may seek to stay on as president.

The report said Blatter had received messages of support from African and Asian football associations, who voted for him at the election and want him to reconsider his decision.

Blatter was honoured by the support and had not ruled out remaining in office, the newspaper said, citing an anonymous source close to him.

Africa’s soccer confederation (CAF) said on Monday that it had not heard of any of its members asking Blatter to stay on.

“At CAF level we are not aware of any African countries who have written to ask Blatter to stay on,” Kalusha Bwalya, a CAF executive committee member and president of the Football Association of Zambia, told Reuters.

“We feel it is better to get on with our own work in the meantime and see what everyone has to say in the next months. Everybody is waiting for clarity.”

“At the moment there are a lot of rumours floating about and everyone is rushing to turn the smallest piece of information into a story.”

UEFA insiders told Reuters that European soccer’s governing body was left perplexed by the reports that Blatter would stand again and that the plot would be too outrageous even for a Hollywood script.

Officially, European soccer’s governing body did not want to comment but the German football association (DFB) called on Blatter, who is staying on until the election, to leave quickly.

“We only know the media reports which strengthen our clear position,” spokesman Ralf Koettker told reporters. “Blatter’s announced resignation must be formally completed as soon as possible.”

Germany coach Joachim Loew said: “As far as I can speak as a coach, FIFA must have a new structure and there has to be a certain new start because all of this has damaged football, and that was dangerous. I think resigning from a resignation should normally not happen.”

However, Domenico Scala, the official overseeing the process of choosing a new president, said on Sunday that Blatter’s departure was an “indispensable” part of planned reforms to soccer’s governing body.

As I have been saying he never resigned and is simply playing a clever chess game.
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #441 on: June 16, 2015, 01:27:26 PM »


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/oQpxsqf5slg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/oQpxsqf5slg</a>

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #442 on: June 17, 2015, 06:15:45 AM »
Statement of the Attorney General of Switzerland at the media conference of 17.06.2015
Office of The Attorney General of Switzerland.


The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland OAG has opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown on the grounds of suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 Football World Cups. That was on 10th March 2015. The opening of the OAG’s investigation was based on information contained in the GARCIA report as well as on information taken from the mutual legal request from the US Department of Justice DOJ. Later on, we have also received suspicious activity reports from the Swiss Financial intelligence unit, the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland MROS. I will come back to the last point later on.

We are aware that – as in any criminal investigations - different parties are involved with their specific, not necessarily matching interests. In Switzerland, criminal investigations have to respect the principle of secrecy. This legal requirement aims to uphold the presumption of innocence and, as a general rule, to do the least possible harm to all the parties involved. However, the goal of a classified criminal investigation is also the establishing of facts without any undo interference. In the case of an overriding public interest, the OAG can decide to disclose information to the broad public. The decision to disclose information has to be taken by the OAG respecting the main goals of the ongoing criminal proceedings and in accordance with the basic principles of criminal procedure.

Based on these general rules, as a principle I never announce the initiating of criminal proceedings or in general, specific measures in an ongoing investigation. However, I do inform the public when there is something that has to be said. I will keep it this way, also in this current investigation. Having said that, I am well aware of the enormous public interest in our investigation. Equally enormous is the public interest in an independent criminal procedure. Our investigation is of great complexity and quite substantial. To give you an example: The OAG has seized around 9 Terabytes of Data. So far, our investigative team obtained evidence concerning 104 banking relations; be aware that every banking relation represents several bank accounts. This implies that the OAG has to process huge amounts of data. At the moment we are analyzing the unsealed and therefore accessible data. Based on this analysis, we define priorities in our investigation.

I set up a tailor-maid Task Force. The head of the OAG’s white-collar crime division leads this Task Force. You find in that Task Force specialized and experienced prosecutors, experts in mutual legal assistance and a specialized forensic IT team from the Federal Criminal Police. Following the tactical needs of the investigation, the Task Force will be focused or extended.

We note positively that banks in Switzerland did fulfill their duties to file suspicious activity reports. 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 procedure is huge and complex on many levels. I am well aware of that and will act accordingly.The risk of loss of evidence is obvious. Any kind of information on the ongoing investigation provided to the public can boost the danger of suppression of evidence. In this regard the OAG will not put at risk investigations neither in Switzerland nor abroad by any wrong acting or wrong communicating. Let me emphasize: The Swiss investigations are executed independently from the prosecutions of our US colleagues. Therefore, documents and data of our Swiss investigation will not be shared automatically with the US counterpart. The exchange of information has to respect the binding rules of mutual legal assistance.

In concluding, we are faced with a complex investigation with many international implications. The prosecution is ongoing and will take time. It would not be professional to communicate at this moment a detailed time table. The world of Football needs to be patient. By its nature, this investigation will take more than the legendary 90 minutes. Be assured: The OAG will give priority to this case and will act according to the principles of the rule of law. There will be formal interviews of all relevant people. By definition, this does not exclude interviewing the President of FIFA and / or its Secretary General.

Thank you very much for your interest in our work. Thank you for your understanding that after this information we will once again focus on our investigation.

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #443 on: June 20, 2015, 10:15:46 AM »
According to Business Insider, Sepp Blatter has hired this guy to handle his stories.

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #444 on: June 20, 2015, 10:18:25 AM »
FIFA president Sepp Blatter lawyers up, hires high-powered attorney Richard Cullen
BY Teri Thompson, Christian Red, Nathaniel Vinton (New York Daily News)


FIFA president Sepp Blatter has retained high-powered attorney Richard Cullen as his organization continues to face big criminal charges.

Sepp Blatter has hired a big-time lawyer as big-time criminal charges continue to rock FIFA, the world soccer authority Blatter has led for 17 years.

The Swiss-born Blatter hired high-powered Virginia lawyer Richard Cullen to represent him in the sprawling American corruption probe based out of the Eastern District of New York, Reuters first reported Wednesday afternoon. Blatter has not been charged.

Cullen comes with white-shoe credentials and friends in high places: He is the chairman of the law firm McGuireWoods and is a former U.S. federal prosecutor. Perhaps more important, Cullen is a close associate of FBI director James Comey, whose agency has led the investigation, including within FIFA’s powerful executive committee.

Nine FIFA members were among 14 people indicted last month on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Among those charged were several long-serving members of FIFA’s executive committee, which the 79-year-old Blatter chairs. On June 2, four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term, Blatter announced he would step down as FIFA president, but has yet to step aside.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch unsealed the indictment in a packed conference room in the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office on May 27, shortly after a series of arrests and raids by Swiss police in Zurich. Lynch indicated that more charges may come.

Blatter, who has reportedly also retained top Zurich lawyer Lorenz Erni, was not named in the indictment, but the document describes transactions such as an alleged $10 million bribe that moved through FIFA accounts.

“Richard Cullen is a very experienced and well-respected attorney who knows his way around the courthouse and the halls of government,” said Daily News legal analyst Tom Harvey. “Blatter scored in my mind by retaining him. But the charges in this case are serious and the facts are the facts.”

Blatter also faces legal exposure in Switzerland, where FIFA is based, and where Swiss prosecutor Michael Lauber said Wednesday that investigators have identified 53 suspicious bank transactions and could summon Blatter and FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke for questioning. According to reports, Valcke has added his own U.S. counsel, New York defense attorney Barry Berke.

Prosecutors in the U.S. have issued extradition orders for the defendants named in the indictment and have said they expect more arrests as they continue their investigation. According to the Eastern District indictment, prosecutors have so far uncovered $150 million in bribes stretching over more than two decades.

A key government informant was longtime FIFA executive Chuck Blazer of New York, who began cooperating with the probe in late 2011 and kept his cooperation secret until last November, when the Daily News first revealed the Eastern District’s grand jury probe and Blazer’s extensive assistance.

Blazer pleaded guilty to a wide range of crimes during a sealed proceeding in Brooklyn on Nov. 25, 2013. He has yet to be sentenced and is likely to serve as a witness against his former colleagues if they go to trial.

Cullen, the Virginia attorney general from 1997-98, has represented a host of government officials who have found themselves in high-profile criminal investigations. According to a bio on his firm’s website, Cullen represented Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican and former majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, during the investigation into corrupt Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. DeLay was not charged. Cullen also represented Ken Melson, who was pushed out of his job as acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), but did not face charges, after a botched anti-gun-smuggling operation known as “Fast and Furious.” Cullen represented CIA and U.S. Defense Department officials in an investigation into interrogation techniques dating to the George W. Bush administration.

“As the saying goes,” Harvey said of Blatter’s new attorney, “the presumption of innocence commences with the payment of a retainer, and I am sure the retainer was substantial.”
« Last Edit: June 20, 2015, 10:20:48 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #445 on: June 23, 2015, 07:37:01 AM »
Diego Maradona to stand as candidate for Fifa presidency, say reports
The Guardian (UK).


Diego Maradona has decided to stand as a candidate for the Fifa presidency to replace Sepp Blatter, the Uruguayan journalist and author Victor Hugo Morales has said.

Morales said that Maradona had told him of his intention when he called the former coach of the Argentina team to check on the condition of his sick father on Sunday.

“He told me he was going to run for president of Fifa and authorised me to inform,” Morales posted in Spanish on his Twitter feed. “‘I am a candidate’ were the two words Diego Maradona used to answer me when I consulted him about the nomination for the presidency of Fifa,” he added in another tweet.
Sepp Blatter’s contradictory comments on Fifa reform bemuse Uefa
Read more

Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, suggested this month that Maradona become the next Fifa president. The former Argentina captain, 54, has long been a trenchant critic of Blatter and last month said he was “enjoying” the corruption scandal that led the Swiss to announce he would stand down.

Like the Brazilian Zico, another great former player who has announced his candidacy, Maradona might struggle to get the support of federations from five countries, as required under Fifa statutes.

The Liberia Football Association chairman, Musa Bility, is the other candidate announced so far for a ballot likely to take place later this year or in early 2016.

Morales is famous around Latin America for his passionate commentary of Maradona’s wonder goal against England at the 1986 World Cup. Maradona led Argentina to their second World Cup triumph in that tournament. The pair hosted a TV show together for the Venezuelan station, TeleSUR, during last year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #446 on: June 23, 2015, 07:44:34 AM »
Musa Bility: Liberia FA boss to stand for Fifa presidency
By Piers Edwards and Sammy Darko (BBC Africa Sport).


Liberia FA chairman Musa Bility has announced plans to stand for the presidency of Fifa, saying it is Africa's time to lead world football. The 48-year-old is the second person to declare his candidacy after former Brazil international Zico.

"Africa is the largest voting bloc in Fifa and we must take the lead to bring football together," said Bility.
"We all agree that football is facing a difficult moment and it is in difficult moments that great leaders emerge."

Bility, who has led the Liberian FA since 2010, becomes only the second African to make a bid to become Fifa president. Current Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Issa Hayatou lost to Sepp Blatter in the 2002 presidential elections.

On 2 June, 79-year-old Blatter announced he would step down as president amid allegations of corruption among Fifa officials. Last month, US authorities indicted 14 Fifa officials and associates on bribery and racketeering charges while Swiss prosecutors are probing alleged corruption surrounding bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Bility may be little known to most outside of Africa, but the Liberian is no stranger to making bold calls.

He broke ranks with most of his African colleagues in 2011 by declaring he would vote against Blatter, who had been instrumental in bringing the previous year's World Cup to the continent for the first time, in that year's Fifa elections.

Bility said Blatter's then challenger, Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam, offered a "better platform" for football development in Liberia. A year later, the Liberian businessman stood alone when contesting controversial rule changes within Caf that ultimately allowed president Hayatou to be re-elected unopposed.

In 2013, Caf handed Bility a six-month ban for violating statutes relating to the use of confidential documents - a punishment the Liberian claimed came as a result of his attempt to tackle African football's ruling body.

Nonetheless, he thinks his outspoken past will help him in his surprise bid.

"People know me to be bold, upright, outspoken and highly opinionated," he told BBC Sport. "I say it like it is. When it's not right, I don't back down and I think that has gained me some respect."

Bility has yet to receive the backing of the five football associations needed to put him in the race but is confident he will secure them.

"I have spoken to about half a dozen of the presidents of African football and I have their support - you can see the excitement," he said.

"If I have one reason to believe that Africa is not going to stand by me, I am not going to put up my candidacy."

Fifa has called an extraordinary meeting of its Executive Committee for July, when the date for the presidential elections will be decided - they are expected between December 2015 and March 2016.

Key points of Musa Bility's plans for Fifa

- Wants the current Fifa crisis to be dealt with in transparent fashion
   
- Wants an improvement in both the financing and ease for Fifa's poorer members to receive development funds

- Wants a reduction in the power of the 24-person Executive Committee
   
- Intends to re-establish Fifa's agreed 10-year relationship with Interpol

- Aims to redefine Fifa's partnerships with sponsors
   
- Wants all officials who join Fifa to declare their assets before joining the organisation
« Last Edit: June 23, 2015, 07:48:45 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline Deeks

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #447 on: June 23, 2015, 11:49:18 AM »
- wants FIfa not to select candidates who are MPs in their countries.

Offline Tiresais

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #448 on: June 26, 2015, 06:51:21 AM »
Sepp Blatter says he has not resigned as Fifa president.
BBC News

The 79-year-old Swiss was thought to have ended his 17-year reign on 2 June amid claims of corruption in world football's governing body.

But, according to Swiss newspaper Blick,  Blatter told a party at a Fifa museum: "I did not resign. I put myself and my office in the hands of the Fifa congress."

Blatter is thought to be considering standing for re-election as president.

Two criminal investigations into alleged Fifa corruption began in the week that Blatter was elected for a fifth term in charge.

Four days after being voted president, Blatter - who is reportedly under investigation in the United States - said: "While I have a mandate from the membership of Fifa, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football.

Play mediaJump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Blatter resigns as Fifa president

"Therefore, 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."

However Blatter did not use the words 'resign' or 'resignation'.

Meanwhile, Blatter may not attend the final of the Women's World Cup in Canada because of the twin investigations into Fifa by American and Swiss authorities.

He would normally present the trophy to the winning team, but Fifa will not confirm whether Blatter or secretary general Jerome Valcke will attend.

A Fifa spokesperson said: "In terms of the Fifa president and the Fifa secretary general, their future travel plans will be confirmed in due course."

Offline Socapro

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Re: FIFA News Thread.
« Reply #449 on: June 26, 2015, 07:30:07 AM »
Sepp Blatter says he has not resigned as Fifa president.
BBC News

The 79-year-old Swiss was thought to have ended his 17-year reign on 2 June amid claims of corruption in world football's governing body.

But, according to Swiss newspaper Blick,  Blatter told a party at a Fifa museum: "I did not resign. I put myself and my office in the hands of the Fifa congress."

Blatter is thought to be considering standing for re-election as president.

Two criminal investigations into alleged Fifa corruption began in the week that Blatter was elected for a fifth term in charge.

Four days after being voted president, Blatter - who is reportedly under investigation in the United States - said: "While I have a mandate from the membership of Fifa, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football.

Play mediaJump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Blatter resigns as Fifa president

"Therefore, 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."

However Blatter did not use the words 'resign' or 'resignation'.

Meanwhile, Blatter may not attend the final of the Women's World Cup in Canada because of the twin investigations into Fifa by American and Swiss authorities.

He would normally present the trophy to the winning team, but Fifa will not confirm whether Blatter or secretary general Jerome Valcke will attend.

A Fifa spokesperson said: "In terms of the Fifa president and the Fifa secretary general, their future travel plans will be confirmed in due course."


What have I been saying all along? Many people have been deluding themselves about this.
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

 

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