Fifa executives have received bribes to vote in favor of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups being awarded to Russia and Qatar, according to a document released Monday by the Brooklyn federal prosecutor.
If suspicions have hovered for several years over the conditions for the granting of the two editions of the competition, this is the first time that the justice of a country has affirmed that the votes designating Qatar and Russia have been marred by irregularities.
Several media have already stated, on the basis of documents or testimony, that FIFA officials were selected to choose Qatar during the ballot. According to the indictment released Monday, which charges three new individuals as well as a company, Jack Warner, the former president of Concacaf, the football federation of North America, Central and the Caribbean, received 5 millions of dollars to vote for Russia. The latter was officially designated on December 2, 2010.
Notched companies
Also according to Brooklyn Attorney Richard Donoghue, the payment was made through a complex network of screen companies. In addition to Jack Warner, who was at the time vice-president of Fifa, the document also quotes Rafael Salguero, former president of the Guatemalan Football Federation and former member of the executive committee of Fifa. According to the indictment, the leader was promised a million dollars in exchange for his support for the Russian candidacy during the decisive vote.
As part of the 2022 World Cup, the document also states that several leaders received envelopes to buy their votes. He cites the former president of the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) Ricardo Teixeira and the former president of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) Nicolas Leoz, who died in August 2019.
The Brooklyn Federal Attorney’s Office gives little information on the origin of these payments. In the case of Jack Warner, they nevertheless mention an individual who acted as contact, according to the prosecution, who describes him as a close adviser to the president of Fifa at the time, namely Sepp Blatter. The document quotes an email sent by this individual to Jack Warner’s assistant, confirming the transfer of $ 5 million.
Fifagate
Investigations and judicial information have been opened in several countries on suspicions of corruption during the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Some 45 natural and legal persons have been indicted today by the American justice system in the so-called Fifagate case , which exposed a vast system of corruption, which mainly undermined the federations of the American continent.
today 26 accused have pleaded guilty, as well as 4 individuals. Two other people, who had pleaded not guilty, were sentenced to trial. Jack Warner, now 77 years old, claimed by American justice, is still in Trinidad and Tobago.
His appeal against the United States’ extradition request has yet to be considered by the Privy Council, which is located in London but is the highest court under Trinidad.
Jack Warner is also accused of having sold his vote for the 2010 World Cup, says South Africa. He was sentenced in absentia in 2019 to pay $ 79 million in damages to Concacaf. Rafael Salguero was sentenced in December 2018 to a sentence of three years of house arrest, equivalent to the one he had already carried out. This reduced sentence took into account his collaboration in the investigation carried out by the American justice. As for Ricardo Teixeira, he is in Brazil and therefore escapes, for the time being, from the American authorities.
(nxp / afp)
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