FIFA arrests stuns but not surprise football world

FIFA arrests stuns but not surprise football world

BY KYLE ANDREW BROWN

“It is a difficult time for football and FIFA,” says Sepp Blatter the four time president of football’s governing body after the end of an astonishing day in Zurich. Eleven of his confederates were arrested by Swiss police in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The New York Times scooped the American press in its early East Coast editions. It reported police went to Zurich’s luxurious Baur au Lac hotel before where the execs were gathered for the annual meeting of the International Football Federation.

Fourteen indictments “are just the beginning, said Brooklyn federal prosecutor, Kelly Currie, at a press conference  attended by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

She said the 2010 World Cup awarded to South Africa was corrupted. Defendants “corrupted the world football affairs to enrich themselves,” accuses Loretta Lynch. “This is the World Cup of fraud, said Richard Weber, a senior US Treasury. Today we issued the red card.”

An unnamed law enforcement official told the Times:  “The system has lasted too long. We are struck by its power and the fact that it touches all parts of Fifa. We have here a case of institutionalized corruption “.

Le Figaro summarized what has long been acknowledged in the football world:

“For many years, FIFA has undergone investigations involving its transparency and mode of governance.  The case paid bribes in the selection of the last World Cup.  Lack of transparency on executive compensation is often pointed to as the organization recorded exceptional sales (5, $ 7 billion between 2011 and 2014). The label “impenetrable Byzantine Empire” often glued to the back of FIFA could now be quickly torn.”

In a remarkable statement FIFA’s public affairs director said just hours after the arrests:

 “FIFA is fully cooperating with the law, it is the victim in this case.”

Reporting by Maxime Brigand / Le Figaro contributed to this report.

La Fifa suspend onze de ses membres, suspectés de corruption

2015-05-28  12:09:48 AM