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Report: 6 FIFA Ex-Co members accused of misconduct in WC bidding process

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The bribery plot surrounding the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bids continues to thicken.

The Sunday Times of England claims to have evidence that shows that FIFA Executive Committee members Issa Hayatou (Cameroon) and Jaques Anouma (Ivory Coast) were each paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar back in December. The claim is backed up by British Member of Parliament Damian Collins, who added that Qatar used a middleman to secure its deals with the African voters.

Lord David Triesman, chairman of England's bid for the 2018 World Cup and former head of England's Football Association, has also alleged that CONCACAF representative Jack Warner, Paraguay's Nicolas Leoz, Brazil's Ricardo Teixera and Thailand's Worawi Makudi acted in unethical ways in the bidding process.

"I cannot say they are all angels or they are all devils," FIFA president Sepp Blatter told the Associated Press. "We must have the evidence and then we will act immediately against all those (who) would be in breach of the ethical code rules," Blatter added.

The Sunday Times' earlier investigation that revealed wrongdoing on the part of Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii led to both committee members being suspended prior to December's vote.

What do you think of the latest Sunday Times report? Surprised? Do you see any change or reform happening as a result of this?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If bribery is so apparently allowed, why didn’t we participate? I would normally point my pious finger at FIFA and call them an organization of scoundrels… but clearly they endorse this type of maneuvering, so I put the blame on our own soccer federation for not doing everything within their power to secure the bid.

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  2. I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

    Wait, wrong thread.

    This was in my wheelhouse, how did the US not win the bid?

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  3. From a trini we all hate jack warner for what hes done to our team since 2006. But in this situation i kinda think the brits are crying over sour grapes they thought they could get Warners vote by playing 1 friendly. The russians probably gave him enough money for 10 friendlies. And im not sure if he voted for the U.S or not even though i think he did but, Qatar is giving STADIUMS!!! away to those who voted for them come on England. Like it or not this is how politics work the English bribe was 1 friendly Russia and Qatar came with stadiums and suitcases of money.

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  4. I’m not surprised. At the same time, I don’t think any reforms will be done as of right now. FIFA needs to be shamed worldwide (not just in the West) like the IOC was after the SLC disaster to enact major reforms in the bidding process.

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  5. “Leoz, of Paraguay, asked for an honorary knighthood,”

    LOL….seriously? All this cash flying everywhere and your looking for a ‘Sir’ title?

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  6. If it wasn’t for FIFA corruption the US would have never hosted the 94 World Cup. I don’t remember anybody complaining about FIFA then.

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  7. Yeah, I believe that everybody gets one vote, and I’m also sure that Warner doesn’t stay in power without the help of spreading some wealth to members of smaller nations who vote for him.

    Giving as well as taking bribes? Nah, that doesn’t sound like him at all… (sigh)

    It’s also amusing to hear Blatter say “We must have the evidence and then we will act immediately”, seeing as there’s tons of evidence out there regarding how crooked Warner is. Was it the 2006 WC that the entire FIFA ticket allocation for T&T ended up being owned by a travel agency owned by the Warner family? Doesn’t sound fishy at all, and certainly not worth a real investigation. And that’s just one story out of many.

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  8. I feel like Qatar has already completed its agenda, though. I just have a hard time believing there could be any less transparency under him.

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  9. Ben, you beat me to it. Warner has been sued by the Trinidad and Tobago WC2006 players for failing to pay their bonuses. He threw his son under the bus for a ticket issue that lined his own pocket. I have no doubt that he told England he would vote for their bid, but then did not, even though England played a lucrative friendly in T&T. he controls most of the broadcasting rights for FIFA matches in North America. What is the old line: he may be a crook, but he is our (CONCACAF) crook. I am just repeating a line, I am not saying Warner is a crook.

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  10. FIFA is starting to resemble the Governing bodies of Boxing and look at how that has slowly destroyed Boxing. Someone has to make Blatter responsible this is all under his watch and Qatar should be stripped of the World Cup and it should be given to the next highest voting getting country.

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  11. Blatter might be sufficiently pissed that the guy from Qatar is challenging him in the FIFA elections that he might retaliate by taking away the WC from Qatar.

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  12. Props to the English press for fighting this fight. They seem to be the only ones actively doing their jobs in re the blatant corruption at high levels of FIFA.

    Press exposure is the first step towards reform. Its not an overnight solution but with oversight limited solely to internal measures its the only way to reign FIFA’s corruption in.

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  13. well, if FIFA wanted to do the right thing, they would remove the members who took the bribes and they would punish qatar by taking the WC away from them.

    however, we’ll probably see the opposite of that.

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  14. Not an expert on how the voting happens, but I’m sure it’s like FIFA where one FA is one vote. Thus, those little Caribbean nations are a powerful bloc of voters.

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  15. That’s what you get when you have UN-style voting practices. Not to get political, but the UN is mostly run by nations that have transparency problems domestically. Practices that don’t clearly disappear in the UN.

    FIFA reminds me of that.

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  16. So can someone explain to me why Mexico and USA don’t stand up to someone like Jack Warner, who apparently voted against the US bid and is clearing not acting in their best interest, much less clean? What could he possibly be providing them that would leave them unwilling to challenge, and over throw him? It really doesn’t make sense to me.

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  17. This is why Americans supposedly hate the UN and other international organs — they don’t even know what they do. I bet less than one-tenth of one-percent of Americans even know that the the so-called World Court — really the International Court of Justice — is empowered only to hear disputes between nations.

    Recently, an International Criminal Court was established to hear cases against individuals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Although the Clinton Administration signed the treaty of Rome, which set up the court, the Senate has not ratified is, and the Bush Administration declared the US would not submit to or join the Court.

    When you hear about prisoners at the Hague, you’re almost certainly thinking of people like Milosevic, who were brought before a special International Court for the former Country of Yugoslavia, which heard war crimes allegations coming out of the conflict there — its jurisdiction came out of the Dayton peace accords.

    All of these courts are in Hague.

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  18. If they’re going to talk about punishing the responsible parties, why not punish Qatar for coming forward with bribes and taking away the WC from them (wishful thinking).

    I really hope Sepp is voted out.

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  19. So what’s wrong with a little bribe now and again? Why else do you take a job with Fifa? It’s not like it gets you laid in bars or anything…

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  20. Best part he was unopposed and unanimously reelected to head Concacaf. Even Mexico and the US federations won’t mess with him. Something needs to change.

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  21. Why is that weird? You have to realize that these aren’t the only ones to take bribes — these are just the guys the TImes was able to find some evidence on. It’s probably a bit more conspicuous in Africa when someone suddenly has $1.5 million to throw around.

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  22. Took the times this long because of libel laws in England from what I’ve read.

    I think the only way this mess gets cleaned up is if the World Court gets involved. Once people have to appear before a judge at the Hague then it stops but I’m not even sure if they would be involved. Is the Hague only for war criminals?

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  23. Not at all surprised. But seeing as FIFA is self-regulating, I don’t see any real change occurring as a result. Surely they’ll cite unreliable evidence or a bias in the English media. Best case scenario would be action taken against the individual members, but I don’t think any major changes will occur. I’m not convinced FIFA’s “Salt Lake City Moment” will ever come.

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  24. Some of these guys might be fined or suspended or even asked to step down (yeah, right). But nothing of substance will happen. The votes have already been counted. It’s not like they’re going to take the WC off of Qatar’s hands or anything. A few slaps on wrists, some Very Serious Statements to the press, and back to the status quo.

    FIFA is a con game and it ain’t changing anytime soon, that’s for sure.

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  25. “Do you see any change or reform happening as a result of this?”

    No. This FIFA. Even if The Times has hard evidence on tape, Sepp will still look the other way.

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