Corruption in FIFA

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Corruption in FIFA stands for a complex of corruption and money laundering scandals that have been spreading from the world football association FIFA since 1991. The allegations against the organization relate, among other things, to the awarding of the 2018 soccer world championships to Russia and 2022 to Qatar as well as the granting of sponsorship and marketing rights by individual FIFA officials, particularly in connection with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil . On May 27, 2015, the FIFA headquarters in Zurich was shut down on suspicion of corruption in relation to the World Cup awardssearched. Separately, seven FIFA officials were arrested on the same day.

development

Between 1991 and 2015, around $ 150 million in bribes are said to have flowed to FIFA and its officials. After Sepp Blatter was elected FIFA President in 1998 to succeed João Havelange , the latter faced initial allegations of bribery. After the awards for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, allegations of corruption against FIFA were confirmed in 2010. According to a committee member of the South America section, votes were supposed to have been bought in advance of the Qatar application. Two of the 24 members of the Executive Committee , the representatives from Tahiti and Nigeria , are said to have offered their votes for the award. The allegations were rejected by FIFA, but could not be dispelled. On June 1, 2014, the suspicion of corruption was reinforced again after the Sunday Times reported that several million US dollars had been poured into a vote in favor of the event in Qatar (2022). The newspaper even wanted to have specific evidence.

At the beginning of September 2014, FIFA chief investigator Michael J. Garcia submitted a report to FIFA concerning irregularities relating to the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. There was no publication. The German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert , as chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, evaluated the document; He attested “a lack of transparency” that was likely to convey a “negative impression”, but assumes in favor of FIFA that the choice of awarding the World Cup was not influenced.

New Code of Ethics 2018

The FIFA Council adopted a new code of ethics in Moscow on June 10, 2018, which came into force on August 12, 2018. This new code of ethics has been criticized for the fact that corruption is no longer a punishable offense and that bribery and match-fixing can only be investigated for a limited time. In the German, English and Spanish versions of the new code of ethics, the word “corruption” has been deleted. In addition, the new paragraph 22.2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics has been introduced, which prohibits all players, agents and football officials from making publicly defamatory statements about FIFA and those subject to the FIFA Code of Ethics. A violation of the regulation threatens a fine of the equivalent of at least 8,800 euros and a ban of up to two years from all football activities. FIFA rejected the allegations, stating, among other things, that the renaming of the previous title of the article “Bribery and Corruption” to “Bribery” was done for the sake of linguistic clarity and that it had no material effect on the actual offenses.

FIFA's criminal complaint against unknown persons

On November 18, 2014, as part of the results of the Garcia report, FIFA filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons, as a result of which criminal proceedings were initiated on March 10, 2015. As a result, on the morning of May 27, 2015 , on behalf of the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office , documents stored on IT systems in connection with the awards for the two upcoming soccer World Cups to Russia and Qatar were seized at the FIFA headquarters .

The Federal Prosecutor's Office is investigating the suspicion that irregularities in the award of Swiss land have occurred. It investigates the suspicion of unfaithful agency ( Art. 158 No. 1 Para. 3 StGB ) and money laundering ( Art. 305bis StGB) - due to the existing legal situation, private corruption cannot be determined, such a penalty is only subject to consultation. Subsequently, ten people were questioned by the Federal Criminal Police (BKP) and the BA. These are members of the 2010 Executive Committee who participated in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup elections . This case has only so much in common with the arrests that took place on the same day that they were coordinated in order to avoid a collusion .

Bribes for media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in America

The Hotel Baur au Lac , where seven FIFA officials were arrested on May 27, 2015

In the morning of May 27, 2015, six FIFA officials were arrested on behalf of the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) on the basis of a US arrest request, and another person was arrested in the morning. The arrests were made by the Zurich canton police , and those affected were arrested at the Zurich Hotel Baur au Lac . According to the spokeswoman for the Federal Office, the request is dated May 21, 2015 and was issued by the Office for International Affairs of the United States Department of Justice .

According to the FOJ, the people are accused of accepting bribes from representatives of sports media and sports marketing companies totaling over $ 150 million. In return, they are said to have received media, marketing and sponsorship rights for soccer tournaments in the USA and Latin America. These are incidents that go back to 1991.

The essential facts and names in this case have been known since the publication of the 113-page investigation report that the CONCACAF Integrity Commission published in April 2013. Therefore, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung , the arrests are not surprising. Rather, the long hesitation of the US judicial authorities is "astonishing". It was also spicy that Jeffrey Webb , who was involved in the bribery cases, initiated the said investigation.

The FOJ announced the names of the detainees that afternoon:

"The following people are in extradition custody:

- Federal Office of Justice : press release

After the hearing on the afternoon of the same day, it was announced that six of the seven people detained would oppose extradition. According to the extradition treaty between Switzerland and the United States, the FOJ will request the United States to submit a formal extradition request for these persons within 40 days so that the proceedings can continue. The seventh person indicated that they are ready for a simplified extradition and can be handed over to the US authorities immediately. As of March 2016, Figueredo was delivered to Uruguay, Sánchez, Marin and Webb to the USA.

In the evening, the FIFA Ethics Committee announced, based on Art. 83 Paragraph 1 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, that it had banned eleven people from football activities based on the latest findings. In addition to the above-mentioned people imprisoned in Zurich, these include Jack Warner , Nicolás Leoz , Chuck Blazer and Daryll Warner .

In connection with the US investigation, Interpol published an international request for arrest, a so-called Red Notice , for six other people on June 3 . These are the former FIFA officials Jack Warner and Nicolás Leoz and four business people from the sports marketing sector: Alejandro Burzaco and Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, all three from Argentina, and José Margulies from Brazil.

On December 3, 2015, Alfredo Hawit , recently elected President of CONCACAF, and Juan Ángel Napout , President of CONMEBOL, two other high-ranking officials were arrested in Zurich. Both are Vice-Presidents of the FIFA Executive Committee . They are accused of having enriched themselves in the context of the award of broadcasting and marketing rights for the South American continental championship Copa America .

Investigations against Sepp Blatter

On September 24, 2015, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation against FIFA President Sepp Blatter . The focus of the investigation is on the one hand the sale of television rights to the Caribbean, which is said to have been made to Jack Warner below market value . This process had already been revealed by Swiss television . In addition, Blatter is charged with a payment of two million Swiss francs to Michel Platini , which is said to have been made in February 2011 for services that he performed between January 1999 and June 2002. The Federal Prosecutor's Office is now investigating the "suspicion of unfaithful business management ( Art. 158 StGB) and - possibly - embezzlement ( Art. 138 StGB)". On September 25th, the Blatters office at FIFA headquarters was searched and material was seized. Blatter and Platini were also questioned. A press conference at which Blatter was supposed to appear on the latest developments after a two-day meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee on September 25 was canceled at short notice without giving any reason. Meanwhile, Blatter's US attorney Richard Cullen stated that the Caribbean television rights contract had been properly prepared and negotiated. On September 28, 2015, according to his lawyer, Blatter told FIFA employees that he would remain FIFA President despite the preliminary investigation and that he had done nothing illegal and was cooperating with the authorities. On the same day, Michel Platini defended the controversial payments to him as justified. On October 8, 2015, the FIFA Ethics Committee and Michel Platini banned Blatter from all football-related activities for 90 days as a result of the ongoing criminal proceedings against Blatter. Blatter's attorney Richard Cullen stated that he had appealed this decision and that the FIFA Appeals Committee under Larry Mussenden must now decide on it. Michel Platini has also announced an appointment. On December 21, 2015, the ethics committee suspended both Blatter and Platini for abuse of office for a period of eight years and also imposed a fine on each. Both announced that they would appeal the verdict.

The British daily The Guardian revealed that there was no written contract between Blatter and Platini, only a so-called gentlemen's agreement . Platini had a contract with FIFA as Blatters advisor from 1998 to 2002, for which he received a salary of 1.05 million Swiss francs. The further payment is said to have been an additional agreement between Blatter and Platini, which was to be regarded as a payment of 500,000 Swiss francs per year for the relevant period of four years. Blatter confirmed this "gentleman's agreement" in an interview with Radio Rottu Oberwallis .

On June 2, 2016, the investigative authority again searched FIFA headquarters. On June 3, two representatives of the law firm Quinn Emanuel, which had been hired by FIFA to represent their interests since June 2015, announced that Blatter, the former General Secretary Valcke and the former Chief Financial Officer and Interim General Secretary Kattner had had at least 79 million Swiss francs over the past five years received on a questionable basis. Members of the top management of the association would have approved mutually lucrative bonuses in the millions over the years . The functionaries Julio Grondona from Argentina and Issa Hayatou from Cameroon were particularly involved in this network . Blatter's lawyer stressed, however, that the payments were “clean, fair and in line with those of presidents of major sports leagues around the world.” It was noticeable that the lawyers explicitly took the FIFA legal director Marco Villiger , who was considered the fourth most powerful man, out of the line of fire.

Accusation of profit sharing in ticket contracts

On September 17, 2015, FIFA announced that it had suspended its General Secretary Jérôme Valcke until further notice. The reason given was a series of allegations against Valcke, which had to be examined by the football association. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Valcke is said to have been guaranteed a discrete share of the profits from tickets sold as part of ticket contracts at world championships from 2010 to 2022. Valcke was banned from all football-related activities for 90 days by the FIFA Ethics Committee on October 8th. This suspension was extended by 45 days on January 6, 2016 when the FIFA Ethics Committee opened formal proceedings against Valcke. Valcke was dismissed from his post as general secretary on 13 January 2016 by decision of the FIFA Emergency Committee.

Allegations against Chung Mong-joon

The South Korean football official Chung Mong-joon will since November 2014, the observation of the ethics committee of FIFA have stood, was known as a letter from 2010 from him in which he a payment of 777 million US dollars to a Global Football Fund announces when South Korea receives the 2022 World Cup. This could be seen as influencing the members of the FIFA Executive Committee, was judged by the chairman of the ethics committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert . The proceedings against Chung were officially opened in January 2015. Chung himself believes that the ethics committee only became aware of him when he announced his candidacy for the office of FIFA President in August 2015 and sees this as an attempt to prevent his candidacy. On October 8, 2015, the FIFA Ethics Committee suspended Chung from all football-related activities for six years for violating Article 4 of the FIFA Code of Ethics and fined him 100,000 Swiss francs .

More corruption scandals

In addition to the scandals highlighted by the media from 2015 onwards, there were two other cases of corruption that affected FIFA officials in the preceding years: Mohamed bin Hammam was banned from FIFA for life in December 2012 because he is said to have tried to be elected to FIFA -President votes to buy. According to Swiss court records , FIFA President João Havelange, who was in office from 1974 to 1998, and his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira were among the main beneficiaries of the bribe system surrounding the marketing company ISL .

Reactions

FIFA

After the arrests and the search, FIFA held a press conference at which Walter de Gregorio , then FIFA Director of Communications and Public Relations, reaffirmed the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. FIFA did not comment on the arrests in a press release, as it was a matter for CONCACAF and CONMEBOL. With regard to the allegations of corruption, FIFA, which considered itself the victim and filed a criminal complaint, assured the Swiss authorities of full cooperation. Sepp Blatter welcomes "the investigations by the US and Swiss authorities" and emphasizes that he wants to "continue to cooperate with the responsible authorities". All “people involved must be removed from football”, “there is no place for such misconduct in football”. Involved persons would be "provisionally" excluded from all football activities.

Sepp Blatter was re-elected President of FIFA on the evening of May 29, 2015, but announced his resignation four days later.

Jack Warner was banned for life by FIFA on September 25, 2015 based on an ethics committee investigation into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. He is therefore not allowed to exercise any football-related activity. The Ethics Committee found that Warner was "a mastermind of systems that included the granting, accepting and receiving of covert and illegal payments, as well as other systems of enrichment". The ban was established on the basis of Art. 13 (General Rules of Conduct), Art. 15 (Loyalty), Art. 18 (Duty to notify, cooperate and accountable), Art. 19 (Conflicts of interest), Art. 20 (Acceptance and granting of Gifts and other benefits) and Art. 41 (Obligations of the parties to cooperate) of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

Football associations

The UEFA Executive Committee has called for the presidential election scheduled for Friday, May 29, 2015 to be postponed if it does not end in a farce. The UEFA statement was published under the title UEFA shows this FIFA the red card . The President of the German Football League , Reinhard Rauball , is also calling for a postponement. UEFA President Michel Platini even asked Blatter to resign. The FIFA President ignored this request, whereupon UEFA considered boycotting the elections. As a countermeasure, a boycott was rejected on the same day. Instead, it was announced that he would be voting for Blatter's opponent, Ali bin al-Hussein .

In Switzerland

The national councilor Roland Rino Büchel ( SVP ), known as a FIFA critic , assumes that, due to the latest incidents, an abolition of tax privileges in parliament could be eligible for a majority. Cédric Wermuth ( SP ) regrets that US interventions are first necessary for something to happen in the fight against corruption. For both, Switzerland's reputation is at stake. According to the criminal law and anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth , it should be positively emphasized that the judiciary shows its colors.

Others

The NGO Avaaz collected until the date of the election more than 500,000 signatures on an online petition to the members of the FIFA Congress and the FIFA Executive Committee, was invited in to not choose Sepp Blatter.

In mid-June 2015 Paraguay lifted the previously existing immunity for senior officials of the South American continental association CONMEBOL based in the country . Its former president Nicolás Leoz was already under house arrest at this point . At the same time, the Vatican suspended a donation agreement stipulating that an educational program established under its auspices would receive $ 10,000 for every goal scored in the South American continental championship starting June 11, 2015 .

documentation

literature

  • Jürgen Kalwa, Michael Ashelm: Shy people. The first week of the Fifa process already shows that the comparison with the Mafia is entirely justified . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, p. 30, Friday, November 17, 2017, No. 267.

Web links

In connection with the arrests of officials

In connection with securing documents at FIFA

In connection with both incidents on May 27, 2015

Others

Individual evidence

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