FIFA Is Said to Open Corruption Cases Against Caribbean Soccer Officials
By Tariq Panja - Aug 8, 2011
bloomberg.com
Soccer’s governing body will start corruption proceedings against more than 10 Caribbean officials after a probe into allegations they took money from a candidate in its presidential election, according to two people familiar with the matter.
FIFA on July 26 gave the officials from the Caribbean Football Union 48 hours to come forward with information about a meeting where Mohamed Bin Hammam, a one-time challenger to FIFA President Sepp Blatter, allegedly offered envelopes stuffed with $40,000. Bin Hammam, the former head of soccer in Asia, is appealing the lifetime ban he was given from the sport.
Zurich-based FIFA’s ethics panel will meet today and is likely to bring the cases after more witnesses came forward to give details of the May 9 and 10 meeting at a hotel in Port-of- Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, according to one of the people with knowledge of the investigation. The pair were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
“We cannot speculate on what will happen,” FIFA said in an e-mailed statement. Ben Spencer, a spokesman for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, didn’t respond to an e-mail or telephone messages seeking comment.
Bin Hammam became the highest-ranked soccer official to be excluded from the sport on July 23. FIFA has spent a year trying to deal with corruption allegations linked to the presidential election as well as the choice of host for the World Cup, which brings in $4 billion.
Warner Quits
One of FIFA’s vice presidents, Trinidad-based Jack Warner, quit the sport after being suspended pending the investigation into him and Bin Hammam. He arranged the Qatari’s meeting with the CFU and the duo were first suspended May 29. FIFA dropped its case against Warner, saying “the presumption of innocence is maintained,” following his withdrawal from the sport. Warner was also head of Concacaf, the regional body.
The new cases would lead to the largest mass suspension of officials in FIFA’s 107-year history. Six officials were suspended in October after allegations of vote buying linked to World Cup bidding.
The inquiry has been led by former U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh.
FIFA told the officials they would face less severe punishment should they come forward with information on the case. The Caribbean authorities may get lifetime bans if they were found to be withholding information. Some of the attendees have changed their stories about what happened, according to one of the people.
‘Zero Tolerance’
“Truthful and complete reporting will be considered in mitigation by the ethics committee when deciding on potential sanctions,” FIFA said last month. “Any person who has relevant information but does not come forward during this 48-hour period will be subject to the full range of sanctions.”
Blatter secured a fourth four-year term unopposed after Bin Hammam, the only other candidate, withdrew. Blatter promised a “zero tolerance” approach to fighting wrongdoing upon re- election on June 1.
Cuba was the only member of the 25-strong CFU that didn’t send a delegate to the Trinidad meeting where Bin Hammam pitched for votes. Officials from nine countries told investigators they had accepted or were offered envelopes full of cash. The remaining 15 denied any knowledge of the incident or refused to take part in the probe.
“Many cases, which look very simple, are not as simple as they look and this one could be a complicated case,” Guido Tognoni, a former adviser to Blatter at FIFA, said in a telephone interview.
‘Flimsy’ Evidence
Bin Hammam, 62, said he’ll appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Swiss civil courts if FIFA doesn’t overturn his ban, which he claims is based on “flimsy” evidence. On Aug. 4, he complained about the time taken to publish the reasons behind his suspension.
“This delay is suspicious in that it gives FIFA the time to devise a justification for a decision that it was always going to make anyway,” he said on his blog. “This is also outrageous as FIFA has been quick to publicize my guilt while holding up my opportunity to appeal.”
The ethics committee will also hear a case against Lisle Austin, a Barbados official who briefly replaced Warner as head of Concacaf. He’s alleged to have broken FIFA statutes concerning taking legal action in civil courts. All disputes must be settled by governing bodies or the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, according to FIFA. Ryan Toohey, a spokesman for Austin, wasn’t immediately able to comment.