Swiss FIFA probe nets Blatter as scandal widens
Sepp Blatter is showered with money at the FIFA HQ
(CNS): Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, is now under criminal investigation in Switzerland. The football boss was questioned by police in Zürich Friday in connection with a deal with the Caribbean Football Union when Jack Warner was president and a payment to Michel Platini, President of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The Swiss authorities said Blatter (79) was suspected of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation, as the global football scandal widened.
A FIFA press conference scheduled for Friday morning was cancelled as a result of the criminal probe into Blatter, which the Swiss attorney general’s office said began Thursday. Blatter is accused of signing a contract with the Caribbean Football Union which “was unfavourable for FIFA” and that the implementation of the agreement violated Blatter’s fiduciary duties. He is also accused of making a “disloyalty payment” in 2001 to the UEFA boss, Platini, allegedly for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002.
Swiss prosecutors were said to have interrogated Blatter Friday and conducted a search of the FIFA headquarters, where documents were seized. Platini has also been asked to provide information.
The probe comes as little surprise as expectations have been high since May that either the Swiss or the US probes into the worldwide football scandal would ensnare Blatter soon enough.
Following the news from the Swiss law enforcement agencies about Blatter and in the wake of the cancelled media conference, FIFA released a short statement claiming that the association has been cooperating with the Swiss OAG since May and had complied with all requests for documents, data and other information.
“We will continue this level of cooperation throughout the investigation,” FIFA stated. “Today, at the Home of FIFA, representatives from the Office of the Swiss Attorney General conducted interviews and gathered documents pursuant to its investigation. FIFA facilitated these interviews as part of our ongoing cooperation. We will have no further comment on the matter as it is an active investigation.”
US authorities have charged 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives of soliciting and receiving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks over two decades. Jack Warner, Jeff Webb’s predecessor as CONCACAF president, is one of the 14 indicted football administrators and is currently fighting extradition to the US from his native Trinidad after the news earlier this week that the authorities’ there had agreed to the US request.
Warner has claimed that the US case against him is politically motivated and that America is trying to exact revenge because it lost out to Qatar in the vote to host the 2022 World Cup.
Category: Crime, Europe, USA, World News
The first thing needs to be done is a complete audit and investigation into CIFA so we can set our house in order before placing good people in harms way.
Only the executive committee of CIFA can do that. What are the odds on that taking place? Remember the football clubs control CIFA. It seems that they want the status quo. Nepotism and fraud is rampant within CIFA as I have time and time mentioned over the past three months. In my humble opinion corruption is within the clubs not just CIFA. Just tell us who got the FIFA Buiding contracts and the free football tickets. This house of cards needs collapse with the jokers removed once and for all.
Warner sounds like a politician and a lawyer alright; crying that he is a victim of a powerhouse seeking revenge instead of explaining what he has done and addressing the facts for what they are. But addressing the facts is something he and the others will have to do. By the way, didn’t his sons also plead guilty in connection with the same situation? Face the music my boy, face the music. Stop crying foul, chicken!
According to the original media reports his sons were caught trying to convert Euros to USD in New York and that is what kicked off the whole thing. They even turned state witnesses giving up their father to try and save themselves. How good is that!
Sounds like some Cayman politico, onerable something or other..,
Get the Depends adult pampers out, as a few in Cayman are about to start doo-dooing their underpants.
Why? Nothing every has any consequence in Cayman. You can still $300K from a charity and if you have a rich ex-husband who can pay it all back, everything will get swept under the carpet after a few media reports, your record will stay clean and life goes on………..
Or get a jury of friends from your district who won’t understand that you did anything wrong.
So what of the national football associations and authorities of Ireland, England, USA, Germany and the like? Will they get a free pass for their participation in the decades-long scandal of football corruption?
If so, why?
– Who
Who, don’t judge everyone by Webb standards, or the lower Cayman ones. Some are actually not corrupt, can you believe that? However Platini might get some scrutiny soon…
I don’t throw random comments or allegations around poster.
Every country I listed in my initial post has clear evidence of corrupt practices regarding football – some quite grotesque. Do the research.
So set out your findings in this thread. That’s what it’s for. Don’t go around making general accusations and not backing them up.
Just so they don’t go after any of your people, right who?
How did you deduce that from my post?
Methinks someone is full of poo-poo.
– Who
Maybe they need a big informant too.
The Americans arrested a number of Americans for the corruption so far. Haven’t you heard of this? If it had been left up to Trinidad to investigate Warner or Cayman to investigate Webb, all you’d be hearing is crickets.
Quote – Warner has claimed that the US case against him is politically motivated and that America is trying to exact revenge because it lost out to Qatar in the vote to host the 2022 World Cup.
Moral – Be very careful who you XXXX around with in future. If Warner couldn’t see this kind of payback coming a mile off he’s even dumber than he looks.
I dunno, he looks pretty dumb
I’m so glad my name isn’t Bruce Blake.
It may not be that bad. Since the WC TV rights were sold through a CI registered company were Jeff Webb was a director at the same time he was president of CIFA, Bruce Blake was the vice president and according to Jack Warner he used the profits for the development of football in the Caribbean. All Bruce Blake has to do is to come out and explain how much CIFA received from these profits and how the funds were used. Jamaica and TT will follow then rest of the Caribbean will come out clean. Our hero!!!
Used the profits for the development of football in the Caribbean? Things like the ‘Centre for Excellence’ maybe?
Don’t think so. Cifa received $3 million from Fifa and $1 million from a generous donor (a loan turned sponsorship) for the center of execelence. So these profits should have been for a different porpouse, Bruce will let us know, I am sure.
I can hear Jeffie singing from here.
Stocking up on popcorn so I can sit back and watch this one unfold!
Getting nearer Cayman….soon come
About time. I hope they dump all over this creep.
Time to clean up FIFA, CONCACAF, and CIFA by replacing the existing officials with people who have no clue how to mismanage millions of dollars. I am proposing Kirky for President of CIFA (could he do worse than Bruce?), and if the other countries want to elevate him all the way to President of FIFA then that’s fine by me.
By Kirky you don’t mean Kirkland Nixon do you? We still need him to go back and run the fire service since there is no one there with the brains who can do it
I think he means kirky the happiest guy on the island.
I second Kirky!
First of all, Kirky is no fool!!!! And at least he is honest and wouldn’t do anything to hurt his country and the youth. Cayman will never have this opportunity again.