FIFA corruption scandal may harm 2018 bid

FIFA yesterday took stern action against six officials involved in a corruption scandal, but also re-awakened fears of a backlash against England's 2018 World Cup bid.

Nigeria's Amos Adamu became the first FIFA member ever to be banned for bribery when he was suspended for three years and fined 10,000 Swiss francs by FIFA's ethics committee.

However, ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser criticised the Sunday Times investigation which led to the scandal as "sensationalist".

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

England 2018 have previously admitted the Sunday Times and BBC Panorama investigations have caused them significant harm, and furthermore England's 2018 rivals Spain/Portugal were cleared of colluding with 2022 Qatar in a vote-swapping deal.

Adamu was found guilty of asking for money in return for his World Cup vote after he asked undercover Sunday Times investigators to channel cash for a project through a family company.

The Nigerian's fellow executive committee member Reynald Temarii from Tahiti was suspended for a year and fined 5,000 Swiss francs for breaching rules on loyalty and confidentiality.

Neither man will be able to take part in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes on December 2, meaning only 22 executive members will now take those decisions.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Four other FIFA officials, all former executive committee members, have also received bans of between two and four years.

Despite basing the ethics committee findings on the Sunday Times' revelations and imposing punishments which surprised many observers with their severity, Sulser blasted the investigation.

Sulser told a news conference in Zurich: "What I cannot tolerate is the fact that they changed the sentences, they changed the way they presented the truth.

"If footage is taken out of context, that's twisting the facts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"They showed footage that lasted four minutes, we have looked at audio and video footage of several hours."

Adamu and Temarii's absence from the executive committee may not aid England's campaign, as the bid had hoped they had their votes in the bag.

Sulser said no evidence had been found of the collusion claims but confirmed that Spain's executive committee member Angel Villar-Llona and Qatar's Mohamed Bin Hammam had only been contacted by letter and not interviewed in person.

Sulser admitted that the scandal had caused "great damage" to FIFA's image, while general secretary Jerome Valcke said the sanctions stood as a warning to anyone tempted to break the rules.

Related topics: