27th May 2015
In Hollywood films and TV dramas the bad guys usually get their comeuppance but rarely in the real world does life imitate silver screen or the idiot box’s art.
Fifa, football’s world governing body, seemingly embody that perfectly, routinely being at the centre of various scandals but very rarely being made to face justice – unless it’s been to the benefit of Sepp Blatter; the lifetime ban handed out to Mohammad Bin Hammam for example
Today, May 27, 2015, perhaps all that changed as the allegedly crooked House of Cards built by Blatter and his acolytes seems more in danger of coming tumbling down than ever before in the wake of the extraordinary events in Zurich.
The launching of criminal proceedings towards more than 10 Fifa officials after three years of investigations by the FBI and the IRS has sent shockwaves through the corridors of power at football’s governing body and opened a spectacular can of worms.
Fifa has fended off corruption allegations in the past, namely the recent furore surrounding Michael Garcia’s report into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process and its subsequent censorship, but never have they faced anything quite like this and certainly never faced accusations from such a behemoth like the FBI.
It is believed that the authorities in the United States suspect that officials – with the focus at this centering on those in the CONCACAF region – have received or paid bribes totaling millions of dollars dating back to the early 1990s – before Blatter’s regime.
Loretta Lynch, US attorney general, says Lynch says $110m in bribes were related to next year’s Copa América Centenario in the United States alone.
Following on from those arrests, Swiss authorities have opened criminal proceedings “against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups,” according to a statement released.
Fifa insist that Russia and Qatar will still host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups but if there is any evidence that there was any illegal activities regarding the winning bids, surely this cannot be the case.
The day football fans around the world hoped for but feared would never happen might just be here.
If there is any substance to these arrests then we can expect those who are being investigated to turn on their cohorts in a bid to protect their own backsides. Anyone who has seen TV’s 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer knows, as soon as a baddie is apprehended by Jack, they demand immunity in return for what they know.
It’s unlikely that immunity in real life is granted as easily as it is on TV but people can and do bargain for reduced sentences, handing over incriminating evidence that focuses on others around them and those higher up the food chain.
The FBI investigation has reportedly been built upon evidence given by former Fifa Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer, who allegedly ratted on his former cronies to avoid jail time.
This came about after it was believed that he might be linked to the ethics violations of Jack Warner, one of Fifa’s all time leading rats, while Warner was president of CONCACAF.
To enable the FBI and IRS build a case, Blazer reportedly wore a wire to meetings with Fifa officials.
If today’s events are the result of one man turning on his former partners-in-crime, imagine what might happen if all those arrested make plea bargains to save themselves from sterner punishment?
Surely this will happen because if we know one thing about Fifa officials, it’s that they’re great at looking after number one.
You have to suspect that the FBI and IRS are hoping that this will indeed happen. This will then allow them to chase the biggest fish that reside in the murky waters in Fifa’s corridors of power and that can only be great news for football fans but bad news indeed for Blatter and his lackey-in-chief Jerome Valcke.
Teflon Sepp is currently not under investigation and according to Walter di Grigorio, the Fifa spokesman at today’s press conference in Zurich, Blatter is, “focused on the congress,” adding “let’s put it like this. The stress factor is higher today than yesterday but he is relaxed. He is not involved. All the rest, he’ll accept what will happen.”
Blatter is a master of self-preservation and clearly a brilliant politician. It’s interesting to note that he didn’t vote for Qatar 2022, possibly knowing the controversy that would follow, giving him a way of washing his hands of the whole sordid affair especially in light of the human rights atrocities taking place in the Gulf State even though he maintains it isn’t Fifa’s fault.
Fifa has the power to stop all human rights abuses relating to the Qatar 2022 World Cup instantly by taking it away from the hosts but it won’t and it’s not hard to wonder why…
Back to today’s events and you can bet the Fifa PR machine is working overtime. Blatter will probably emerge claiming that this is part of the new, transparent Fifa that we all want and see himself as the agent of change – you or I couldn’t make it up but Fifa certainly could and likely will.
They’re already labeling themselves as the “injured party”, cooperating fully according to an official Fifa statement… You have to hand it to them purely for the barefaced cheek of it all.
There have been so many stories of corruption surrounding Fifa it is impossible to believe there’s not some truth to them if not all of them. As they say, there’s no smoke without fire and this has the feel of a towering inferno
After the revelations of today, it would seem that all that has gone before was just the tip of the iceberg. It’s easy to imagine that a landslide of allegations will soon follow and that even Blatter might find to ride this out.
It’s safe to say that he’ll probably bury his head in the sand and hope it all blows over as he has done before…
“Crisis? What is this crisis?”
Well, Sepp, this is a crisis unlike any that Fifa has ever faced before – akin to that encountered by the International Olympic Committee after the Salt Lake City scandal – and if his minions turn on him, as you have to suspect they will to save their own filthy hides, hopefully Teflon Sepp will finally have nowhere left to hide.
In addition, this whole sordid affair couldn’t have possibly come at a worse time for Fifa what with the presidential elections taking place on Friday.
Today’s allegations come just a day after a story appeared in The Guardian which revealed that Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, the one remaining challenger to Blatter’s presidency, had reported a ‘criminal approach’ from an individual offering 47 votes and information relating to the financial activities of Blatter.
Prince Ali’s team who reported the incident to Quest, a UK-based corporate intelligence firm, said the individual was not part of Fifa nor connected to any national football association but once again raise questions about the people that operate in and around football’s governing body, official or not..
That approach, followed by today’s stunning events, must have surely strengthened the bid of Prince Ali to become head of Fifa.
The Jordanian said that the events of today in Zurich made for a “sad day for football” and while you can understand his sentiment, for many this is a great day for football; fans can now see some light at the end of the corrupt Fifa tunnel.
Following on from that comment, he said that Fifa now needs leadership “that governs, guides and protects” and about that he is right on the money.
If I was in the shoes of Prince Ali (and boy do I wish I was), I would be using every last second between now and the vote to remind people that all this has taken place under the stewardship of Blatter and pushing my name forward as a real agent of change.
“Look at what this man’s reign has brought upon us”.
I would also appeal to all the delegates to come forward with any information they might have regarding examples of corruption witnessed in the past and implore them to reach out to the authorities to help finally bring the Fifa banana republic to an end.
Although football fans have enjoyed the events of today you get the sense that, having seen Blatter et al escape before, any celebrations have been restrained but this time it really does feel different.
The days, weeks, months and possibly years – these proceedings are bound to take a long time – are certainly set to be intriguing as more and more revelations come spewing forth and we find out just how loyal the Fifa bigwigs are.
Blatter may well win the election battle this Friday but the chances of him winning the long-term war are for once looking slimmer as there will surely be calls for his impeachment or resignation for having overseen such corruption if, as unlikely as it sounds, he is innocent of any wrongdoings.
And even if he does survive that, if there is evidence of illegality surrounding the World Cup 2018 and 2022 bids, it’s highly likely that those who lost out will come a calling to Fifa’s ivory towers to file lawsuits and it’s hard to imagine even Teflon Sepp surviving those.
So if, indeed, we do finally see an end to the Blatter regime, and we have to hope that we do, then we have the FBI and IRS to thank for opening up one of the largest can of worms the sporting world has even seen.