Time to clean up world soccer

The soccer administration the world over seems to be in a total mess over never-ending corruption scandals. From the world governing body – FIFA to its Asian confederation – AFC and down the lane to countries such as Thailand and Sri Lanka, corruption scandals have brought the game’s administration into disrepute.

Sepp Blatter, the embattled world soccer chief, along and Secretary General have now been forced to hire high-profile lawyers to represent them as the corruption probe engulfs FIFA after Swiss authorities have identified suspicious bank transactions of the top most world soccer officials.

The world soccer chief, who appears to be marching from grace to disgrace, has hired Richard Cullen, the chairman of the law firm McGuireWoods while FIFA’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke has retained well-known New York defence attorney Barry Berke to represent them. Swiss prosecutors, investigating the international football scandal, have already identified 53 suspicious bank transactions but it could well take a longer time to complete the full investigation. Attorney General of Switzerland Michael Lauber has not ruled out the possibility of questioning Blatter and Valcke, although the Swiss authorities had not targeted any individuals so far.

A criminal investigation

Switzerland has already identified it as a criminal investigation and has seized computers at FIFA headquarters in its capital. Simultaneously, United States revealed indictments of nine football officials and five businessmen as part of a separate probe into corruption. The investigators will face a tough task as it is a complex investigation with many international implications.

The world of football is closely following the latest development but all those who follow the high drama need to be patient as it could take more time to find the culprits. The US prosecutors have not accused Blatter of wrongdoing although he had voluntarily stepped down from the top seat, days after he was elected President for a record fifth term.

The 79-year-old Swiss’ stewardship of FIFA is among the issues that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining at the moment. But his second-in-command Valcke is suspected of an involvement in a USD 10 million in FIFA bank transactions - a key part of the investigation.

The pressure is mounting on world soccer officials to prove their innocence and FIFA’s ethics committee is conducting its own investigation into individuals suspected of breaking the rules in relation to bidding for the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments, which have been awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.

There have been accusations from various quarters that the bidding countries have offered lucrative deals as bribes to woo votes at the elections that decided the hosts. But the former head of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Ricardo Teixeira has said he got “absolutely nothing” in return for his vote to award Qatar the rights to host the 2022 World Cup. His statement came after accusations that he was involved in impropriety as “preposterous”.

Meanwhile, one of Switzerland’s leading banks - Julius Baer, too has launched an internal investigation on the transactions in their FIFA account. Julius Baer has also come forward to cooperate with the Swiss authorities investigating the scandal.

Greedy for power

It is no secret why aging Blatter has been greedy for power, even after being in FIFA top seat for 16 long years. Had he completed the last mandate he got, he would have completed exactly two decades as the world football boss. However, he was forced to step down amidst severe criticism.

It is now crustal clear that Blatter and Valcke could be among those summoned for questioning. Having stepped down from FIFA presidency, just two days after he was re-elected for a fifth term in office, Blatter has said that fresh election to find his successor would be held between December and February.

The corruption storm flew across Asia too when suspended Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general secretary Alex Soosay quit after a 20-year term on Wednesday, instead of continuing the struggle to clear his name. He is accused of trying to interfere with a corruption probe of the Asian governing body for soccer. The AFC suspended Soosay last month after Malaysian media exposed an attempt by the AFC Secretary General to “tamper or hide” documents during a 2012 external audit. The PricewaterhouseCoopers inspection was made after former AFC president Mohammed Bin Hammam was banned for life by FIFA for ethics breaches.

But the AFC, in a statement, has “thanked” Soosay for his “commitment to Asian football” during his extensive two-decade-long career. If the AFC authorities are honest and transparent, the findings of the Soosay investigations should be made public. Despite Asia-wide calls to make the 2012 audit report public, the AFC is yet to respond positively.

The corruption scandals at the AFC came to light after Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, an outspoken critic of the Qatari, was elected AFC President two years ago. The fishy deals of Asian soccer officials came to light when the Malay Mail claimed that it had obtained video evidence in which AFC financial directory Bryan Kuan Wee Hong had told investigators in 2012 that Soosay had sought “help” from him.

Soosay is the latest victim at the AFC since the Bahraini captured power at the Asian governing body in 2013. Former Bin Hammam allies from Thailand, Sri Lanka and a couple of other countries have already become unfortunate victims in the AFC power struggle.

Major breakthrough

A major breakthrough in the soccer world’s most disgraceful bribery scandal could well be made soon since Argentine businessmen Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis, wanted by the US prosecutors as part of the FIFA bribery investigation, have turned themselves in to authorities in Buenos Aires last week.

Seventy-year-old Hugo and his 40-year-old son were among 14 current and former FIFA officials and corporate executives indicted in the US last month on charges of racketeering and corruption that shocked global soccer.

The Jinkis duo, along with Argentine Alejandro Burzaco, is accused of conspiring to secure lucrative media rights contracts from regional soccer. It is believed that they had paid millions of dollars in bribes to secure such raw deals.

The surrendering of the father and son makes only one of the 14 people indicted in the United States still remains at large. All three Argentine suspects are accused of tax evasion, money laundering and illicit fiscal association. Their status as world soccer officials has provided them a cover to indulge in such disgraceful acts.

It is high time that all member federations of FIFA take a close look at the individuals they vote for the high-profile positions in future. It is an open secret how bribes have been playing a key role behind the curtain when it comes to elections of office bearers to key positions in the FIFA and the AFC. Hence, time is now opportune to put an end to all those ugly acts which had brought nothing but shame and disgrace to the beautiful world of football.