LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - The last thing Sepp Blatter needed three weeks before standing for re-election as the president of FIFA was a fresh volley of accusations concerning corruption among members of his executive committee.
But that is exactly what he got on Tuesday from ex-English FA chairman David Triesman, a one-time lecturer who, with an academic's eye for detail, attempted to discredit layer by layer the integrity of some of the most powerful men in soccer.
Speaking to a British parliamentary inquiry into the governance of football in England and the country's failure last year to secure the right to host the 2018 World Cup finals, Triesman gave MPs the names, dates and places of conversations he had with four executive committee members who, he claims, wanted a bribe in return for their vote for England.
The bribes were never paid, and the votes never came, but Triesman was not the only one naming names on Tuesday.
While he accused Jack Warner of Trinidad & Tobago, Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay, Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil and Worawi Makudi of Thailand, MPs on the parliamentary committee also revealed other names.
Quoting a submission they received from Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, the names of Issa Hayatou, the president of the African confederation, and Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast, were accused of taking bribes of US$1.5 million to vote for Qatar, who won the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
Last year FIFA banned Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti over a report in the Sunday Times that they had offered to sell their votes.
So a third of FIFA's 24-man decision-making body have now been accused of being corrupt.
Others, including Blatter himself, have been accused in the past.
IMAGE PROBLEM
In May 2002 FIFA's then secretary general Michel Zen-Ruffinen claimed Blatter's 1998 election victory was based on bribery and corruption.
Blatter threatened legal action but never followed up the threat, while Zen-Ruffinen was soon out of a job.
Almost a decade later, and about to fight another election, Blatter has recently acknowledged that FIFA does have an image problem, and that allegations of corruption have damaged world soccer's governing body.
The problem for the president, though, is that even when FIFA acts and bans the likes of Adamu and Temarii, more accusations emerge such as Triesman's on Tuesday.
Until the idea that FIFA and corruption are inevitably interlinked is put to bed for good, Blatter will be fighting not only real or perceived corruption in his own organisation but the perception that FIFA is completely riddled with it.
That is, of course, assuming he wins the election against Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam on June 1.
Swiss Blatter distanced himself from his executive committee after Triesman's claims on Tuesday, saying he did not choose the members and could not say whether they were angels or devils.
"I am the president and I have my own conscience, I can only answer for myself, I cannot answer for the members of my committee," he told reporters in Zurich.
"They are not elected by the same Congress that I am elected, they are coming from the others (elsewhere), so I cannot say they are all angels or all devils."
It is not certain how Blatter's executive committee might react to those remarks but, on past evidence, they will tolerate them and continue to serve.
Blatter added: "We must have the evidence and we will react immediately against all those in breach of the ethics code rules.
"Zero tolerance is going through FIFA, it is one of the items on the Congress. It is my battle horse. I'm fighting to clear FIFA but only when we have the evidence."
Triesman said he was sending his evidence to Blatter as did John Whittingdale, the chairman of the parliamentary committee.
Whoever wins the election is likely to find a couple of hefty files on his desk the following morning.
But that is exactly what he got on Tuesday from ex-English FA chairman David Triesman, a one-time lecturer who, with an academic's eye for detail, attempted to discredit layer by layer the integrity of some of the most powerful men in soccer.
Speaking to a British parliamentary inquiry into the governance of football in England and the country's failure last year to secure the right to host the 2018 World Cup finals, Triesman gave MPs the names, dates and places of conversations he had with four executive committee members who, he claims, wanted a bribe in return for their vote for England.
The bribes were never paid, and the votes never came, but Triesman was not the only one naming names on Tuesday.
While he accused Jack Warner of Trinidad & Tobago, Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay, Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil and Worawi Makudi of Thailand, MPs on the parliamentary committee also revealed other names.
Quoting a submission they received from Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, the names of Issa Hayatou, the president of the African confederation, and Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast, were accused of taking bribes of US$1.5 million to vote for Qatar, who won the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
Last year FIFA banned Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti over a report in the Sunday Times that they had offered to sell their votes.
So a third of FIFA's 24-man decision-making body have now been accused of being corrupt.
Others, including Blatter himself, have been accused in the past.
IMAGE PROBLEM
In May 2002 FIFA's then secretary general Michel Zen-Ruffinen claimed Blatter's 1998 election victory was based on bribery and corruption.
Blatter threatened legal action but never followed up the threat, while Zen-Ruffinen was soon out of a job.
Almost a decade later, and about to fight another election, Blatter has recently acknowledged that FIFA does have an image problem, and that allegations of corruption have damaged world soccer's governing body.
The problem for the president, though, is that even when FIFA acts and bans the likes of Adamu and Temarii, more accusations emerge such as Triesman's on Tuesday.
Until the idea that FIFA and corruption are inevitably interlinked is put to bed for good, Blatter will be fighting not only real or perceived corruption in his own organisation but the perception that FIFA is completely riddled with it.
That is, of course, assuming he wins the election against Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam on June 1.
Swiss Blatter distanced himself from his executive committee after Triesman's claims on Tuesday, saying he did not choose the members and could not say whether they were angels or devils.
"I am the president and I have my own conscience, I can only answer for myself, I cannot answer for the members of my committee," he told reporters in Zurich.
"They are not elected by the same Congress that I am elected, they are coming from the others (elsewhere), so I cannot say they are all angels or all devils."
It is not certain how Blatter's executive committee might react to those remarks but, on past evidence, they will tolerate them and continue to serve.
Blatter added: "We must have the evidence and we will react immediately against all those in breach of the ethics code rules.
"Zero tolerance is going through FIFA, it is one of the items on the Congress. It is my battle horse. I'm fighting to clear FIFA but only when we have the evidence."
Triesman said he was sending his evidence to Blatter as did John Whittingdale, the chairman of the parliamentary committee.
Whoever wins the election is likely to find a couple of hefty files on his desk the following morning.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire