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Feds blow the whistle on Fifa
Six senior Fifa officials have been arrested in Switzerland on US charges of corruption and fraud. Is the organisation finally going to be reformed, asks Matthew Partridge.
Fifa spokesman Walter de Gregorio takes on the press
Six senior Fifa officials have been arrested in Switzerland on US charges of corruption and fraud. Is the organisation finally going to be reformed?
What's going on?
There are also claims that they didn't pay any taxes. A bilateral treaty between the two countries means that they are likely to be extradited from Switzerland to face trial in America. At the same time, Swiss prosecutors have also started a separate investigation into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively in 2010. However, it is not yet known if the arrests and new investigation are formally related.
Hasn't there already been an investigation?
However, this part of the report has not been released. Instead, a summary by Fifa official Hans-Joachim Eckert claims that it largely exonerated officials from both countries. Indeed, Eckert even claimed that the rival British and Australian bidding teams broke rules themselves. For his part, Garcia claims that Eckert's summary was extremely misleading.
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Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
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Qatar is especially controversial, because its scorching temperatures mean that it will have to be played during the winter, causing a huge amount of disruption to club football around the globe. It has also been criticised for the high death toll in building the stadiums where the matches are due to take place.
Other issues include generally dire labour conditions, confiscation of workers' passports and the use of forced workers (including those from North Korea).
What about Sepp Blatter?
For his part, al-Hussein has claimed that he was himself approached by a fixer, offering to deliver up to 48 votes in favour of the Jordanian royal. The prince's team say that itdeclined the alleged offer and they informed the police (though not Fifa) about it.
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