The FBI is investigating the role of Sepp
Blatter in the $100m ISL scandal after
the suspended Fifa president appeared
to be implicated by his predecessor,
according to a BBC Panorama
documentary to be screened on Monday
night. In a letter obtained by the FBI,
and forwarded to Swiss authorities with
a request for help, the former Fifa
president João Havelange appears to
say: “Mr Blatter had full knowledge of
all activities,” and was “always apprised
to them”.
The FBI’s request was sent before the
dramatic May arrests that sparked
Blatter’s downfall and a full-blown
crisis at world football’s governing
body.
In a covering note to the Swiss
authorities the FBI requests information
from an earlier Swiss investigation into
the ISL scandal, which involved the
payment of $100m in backhanders by
the now defunct sports marketing
company.
The note adds: “Among other things, the
prosecutor is investigating Havelange’s
statements implicating Blatter and
appearing to exculpate Havelange’s son-
in-law, [Ricardo] Teixeira, in the ISL
matter.”
In the letter from Havelange, seemingly
written after a 2010 court case in Zug,
Switzerland, related to the affair, he
appears to claim that payments to him
were above board. He writes: “During
the period of time in which I was Fifa
president, Mr Joseph Blatter was the
secretary general, I maintained
commercial relationships with sports
marketing companies which were under
my economic control, and, as a result of
these relationships, I received
remuneration, in accordance with Fifa
regulations, and this was the object of a
judicial proceeding settlement in
Switzerland without acknowledgement
of any guilt. “I clarify that all expenses for the
mentioned proceeding, including
attorneys, were paid by Fifa. I
emphasise that Mr Joseph Blatter had
full knowledge of all activities described
above and was always apprised to
them.”
The letter, obtained by the BBC, has
been seen by the Guardian. Blatter’s
lawyers failed to respond to a request
for comment when the BBC contacted
them.
It was the same Panorama team, led by
the veteran Fifa investigator Andrew
Jennings, that in 2010 revealed the
existence of the list of bribes paid by
ISL.
Havelange finally resigned from his
position as the honorary Fifa president
in 2013 after an ethics committee report
confirmed how he and Teixeira, his
former son-in-law, had taken a series of
bribes over an eight-year period.
At the time, the report found Blatter had
been “clumsy” rather than “criminal” in
returning a $1m bribe meant for
Havelange that crossed his desk.
Blatter insisted he did not know the
money was a bribe. Before 2004,
accepting inducements of that kind was
not illegal under Swiss law.
Teixeira was one of three former heads
of the Brazilian FA named among an
additional 16 people charged with
corruption offences by the US
Department of Justice last week.
Both US and Swiss prosecutors continue
to probe decades of wrongdoing among
Fifa executives. Blatter is under
investigation by the Swiss over a £1.3m
“disloyal payment” to the suspended
Uefa president, Michel Platini, and
speculation continues to surround his
status in the US probe.
The US attorney general, Loretta Lynch,
said last week she would continue to
pursue wrongdoers as she unsealed an
updated indictment that alleged more
than $200m had been received in
bribes and kickbacks.
The programme, to be broadcast on
Monday night at 8.30pm, is also told by
the former FA chairman Lord Triesman
that the successful Qatar 2022 bid cost
£117m. Gary Lineker, part of England’s
2018 World Cup bid team, laments the
rotten state of world football
governance.
“It makes me feel nauseous at the levels
of corruption in a sport that has been a
huge part of my life and is a huge part
of many people’s lives right around the
world,” he says. “And part of me hopes
that with everything being so clearly
rotten, that we can come out and
somehow start again and correct it.
Blatter in the $100m ISL scandal after
the suspended Fifa president appeared
to be implicated by his predecessor,
according to a BBC Panorama
documentary to be screened on Monday
night. In a letter obtained by the FBI,
and forwarded to Swiss authorities with
a request for help, the former Fifa
president João Havelange appears to
say: “Mr Blatter had full knowledge of
all activities,” and was “always apprised
to them”.
The FBI’s request was sent before the
dramatic May arrests that sparked
Blatter’s downfall and a full-blown
crisis at world football’s governing
body.
In a covering note to the Swiss
authorities the FBI requests information
from an earlier Swiss investigation into
the ISL scandal, which involved the
payment of $100m in backhanders by
the now defunct sports marketing
company.
The note adds: “Among other things, the
prosecutor is investigating Havelange’s
statements implicating Blatter and
appearing to exculpate Havelange’s son-
in-law, [Ricardo] Teixeira, in the ISL
matter.”
In the letter from Havelange, seemingly
written after a 2010 court case in Zug,
Switzerland, related to the affair, he
appears to claim that payments to him
were above board. He writes: “During
the period of time in which I was Fifa
president, Mr Joseph Blatter was the
secretary general, I maintained
commercial relationships with sports
marketing companies which were under
my economic control, and, as a result of
these relationships, I received
remuneration, in accordance with Fifa
regulations, and this was the object of a
judicial proceeding settlement in
Switzerland without acknowledgement
of any guilt. “I clarify that all expenses for the
mentioned proceeding, including
attorneys, were paid by Fifa. I
emphasise that Mr Joseph Blatter had
full knowledge of all activities described
above and was always apprised to
them.”
The letter, obtained by the BBC, has
been seen by the Guardian. Blatter’s
lawyers failed to respond to a request
for comment when the BBC contacted
them.
It was the same Panorama team, led by
the veteran Fifa investigator Andrew
Jennings, that in 2010 revealed the
existence of the list of bribes paid by
ISL.
Havelange finally resigned from his
position as the honorary Fifa president
in 2013 after an ethics committee report
confirmed how he and Teixeira, his
former son-in-law, had taken a series of
bribes over an eight-year period.
At the time, the report found Blatter had
been “clumsy” rather than “criminal” in
returning a $1m bribe meant for
Havelange that crossed his desk.
Blatter insisted he did not know the
money was a bribe. Before 2004,
accepting inducements of that kind was
not illegal under Swiss law.
Teixeira was one of three former heads
of the Brazilian FA named among an
additional 16 people charged with
corruption offences by the US
Department of Justice last week.
Both US and Swiss prosecutors continue
to probe decades of wrongdoing among
Fifa executives. Blatter is under
investigation by the Swiss over a £1.3m
“disloyal payment” to the suspended
Uefa president, Michel Platini, and
speculation continues to surround his
status in the US probe.
The US attorney general, Loretta Lynch,
said last week she would continue to
pursue wrongdoers as she unsealed an
updated indictment that alleged more
than $200m had been received in
bribes and kickbacks.
The programme, to be broadcast on
Monday night at 8.30pm, is also told by
the former FA chairman Lord Triesman
that the successful Qatar 2022 bid cost
£117m. Gary Lineker, part of England’s
2018 World Cup bid team, laments the
rotten state of world football
governance.
“It makes me feel nauseous at the levels
of corruption in a sport that has been a
huge part of my life and is a huge part
of many people’s lives right around the
world,” he says. “And part of me hopes
that with everything being so clearly
rotten, that we can come out and
somehow start again and correct it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment