Fifa launches investigation into vote-selling claims

[daveymac]

Fifa is investigating allegations that two of its officials offered to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 World Cup.

Reporters from The Sunday Times posed as lobbyists for a consortium of American companies who wanted to bring the tournament to the United States.

They approached Amos Adamu, a Nigerian who serves as a Fifa executive committee member.

He allegedly told reporters he wanted cash to build pitches in Nigeria.
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Mr Adamu, who is president of the West African Football Union, is said to have told the undercover journalists that he wanted $800,000 (?500,000) to build four artificial football pitches.

This would be completely against Fifa's rules.

The Sunday Times footage shows Mr Adamu wanting money to be paid to him directly for endorsing the US bid.

In the video, he was asked whether the money for a "private project" would have an effect on the way he voted.

Closely monitored

He replied: "Obviously, it will have an effect. Of course it will. Because certainly if you are to invest in that, that means you also want the vote."

Reynald Temarii, president of the Oceania Football Confederation, is also alleged to have asked for a payment, in his case to finance a sports academy.

A statement from Fifa read: "Fifa and the Fifa Ethics Committee have closely monitored the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups and will continue to do so.

"Fifa has already requested to receive all of the information and documents related to this matter, and is awaiting to receive this material.

"In any case, Fifa will immediately analyse the material available and only once this analysis has concluded will Fifa be able to decide on any potential next steps.

"In the meantime, Fifa is not in a position to provide any further comments on this matter."

A European nation will definitely host the 2018 World Cup after the United States - the last remaining non-European bidder - pulled out of the race on Friday. Australia withdrew its candidature in June. Both will refocus their efforts on 2022.

England will now battle it out with bids from Russia, Belgium/Netherlands and Spain/Portugal.

A 24-strong committee will decide by secret ballot on 2 December who should host the tournaments.

[daveymac]

Football's world governing body Fifa has widened its probe into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Proceedings have already been opened against two executive committee members as part of a probe into votes allegedly being sold to stage the 2018 World Cup.

And investigations are also ongoing in relation to other Fifa officials who may have been involved.

But Fifa is also to probe any "alleged agreements between member associations" bidding for the 2018 and 2022 events.

England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium are all bidding for the right to host the 2018 World Cup and will find out who has won on 2 December.

The hosts of the 2022 World Cup will also be decided on the same day, with the United States, Australia, Qatar, Japan and South Korea all in the hunt.

"I'm not commenting on anything," US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati, chairman of the US Bid Committee, told BBC Sport.

"We're staying away from commenting on this. Hopefully they'll get to the bottom of all this pretty quickly," added Gulati.

England and the US initially asked to be considered as hosts for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. But on Friday, the Americans withdrew from the 2018 race, while England did the same for 2022.

The 2018 and 2022 decision will be made by Fifa's 24-strong executive committee.

Transparency and fair play are not words that immediately come to mind when you look at the bidding process

Alec McGiven, England's 2006 World Cup bid director

"An investigation has also been opened into the member associations in question as well as their Bid Committees," said Fifa in statement, which is concerned that any agreement between member associations would be "clear violation of the bid registration document".

The statement added: "Fifa has again asked the chairman of the Ethics Committee to act without delay to take all possible steps, including the possibility of provisional measures, should the relevant conditions be met."

Alec McGiven, the director of England's unsuccessful bid to host the competition in 2006, described the news as "tremendously damaging".

"Fifa's World Cup is the biggest football competition in the world, it's tremendously important to football fans," he said. "They want to see it run properly and they want to see the bidding process to be a fair one.

"Sadly transparency and fair play are not words that immediately come to mind when you look at the bidding process."

Monday's development follows an English newspaper accusation that Nigerian Amos Adamu and Tahitian Reynald Temarii, who is the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) president, allegedly asked for payments for votes.
Amos Adamu is one Fifa member named by the Sunday Times
Amos Adamu is one Fifa member named by the Sunday Times

Adamu and Temarii were secretly filmed by reporters from the Sunday Times, who posed as lobbyists for a consortium of American companies that wanted to bring the tournament to the United States.

Adamu, who serves as a Fifa committee member, allegedly said he wanted $800,000 (?500,000) to build four artificial football pitches. This would be against Fifa's rules.

The Sunday Times footage appears to show Adamu asking for money to be paid to him directly for endorsing a US bid.

Temarii is also alleged to have asked for a payment, in his case to finance a sports academy.

The OFC said it was investigating the reports.

"Further to information made public by the Sunday Times, the OFC president and Fifa vice-president Reynald Temarii will cooperate fully with the Fifa Ethics Committee and the Fifa secretary general," a statement released on Sunday said.

"Reynald Temarii welcomes a full and thorough investigation so that all the facts can be heard."

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said at the weekend that the affair had had a "very negative impact" on football's world governing body.

"The Sunday Times allegations could not have been more stark and more uncomfortable," said BBC sports news correspondent Tim Franks.

Franks added that the regulations governing the World Cup bidding process are not as rigorous as they could be.

"The competition among countries is lengthy, complex, and - so far - not governed by the sort of strict rules that for the last decade have surrounded the bids to stage the Olympic Games," he added.

"Earlier this month, a very senior official at Fifa told the BBC he had concerns that England's competitors to stage the 2018 World Cup were not playing as straight as England... and that several members of the executive committee might be open to blandishments."

[Sunny]

It's a shame FIFA don't take a closer look at a certain Jack Warner.