Along with the bribery allegations, Qatar has also been criticised for the alleged human rights violations in the construction of stadiums for the 2022 World Cup. PHOTO: AFP
The comments by the head of FIFA’s auditing and compliance committee came as bribery claims mounted against disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, the man at the heart of the scandal engulfing football’s world body.
“If evidence exists that Qatar and Russia received the [World Cup] awards only thanks to bribes, then the awards could be annulled,” independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala, told Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung.
His comments are the first by a senior FIFA official about the possibility of Russia or Qatar being stripped of the right to host the event.
Mired in controversy
Swiss authorities are already investigating the awarding of hosting rights as part of a corruption scandal that has also raised questions about the 2010 event in South Africa.
Around 14 current or former FIFA officials are accused by US prosecutors of taking part in a sweeping kickbacks scheme going back 20 years involving a total of $150 million in bribes.
The revelations have thrown the world of football into turmoil and led to the resignation of long-serving FIFA president Sepp Blatter last week, just four days after his re-election for a fifth successive term.
Blatter’s replacement will not be chosen for months, but former UEFA president Freddy Rumo has said that changing presidents is not the solution. “The corruption has nothing to do with Blatter,” he told Swiss public broadcaster RTS.
Corruption allegations against FIFA officials
Although Blatter has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing, allegations are swirling around his one-time right-hand man Warner.
Warner was arrested on May 29 and is currently free on $400,000 bail after denying all allegations against him.
The BBC claimed he personally used the $10 million payment to FIFA in 2008 which South Africa says was intended for football development for the African diaspora in the Caribbean, where Warner was the longtime football baron.
The BBC, citing documents it has seen, said Warner laundered the money through a supermarket chain, made cash withdrawals, paid off his credit cards and took personal loans.
In three transactions in 2008, $10 million were moved from FIFA’s bank into an account of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) controlled by Warner, then its president.
According to a 2007 email published on Sunday by South Africa’s Sunday Times, Blatter and then South African president Thabo Mbeki discussed the $10 million.
The email came from FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke, who has previously said “I have nothing to blame myself for” over the payment.
In another allegation, former Egyptian sports minister Aley Eddine Helal said Warner asked Egypt in 2004 for a $7 million bribe in exchange for seven votes to host the 2010 Cup.
“Warner was the one who approached us. He said he could guarantee us seven votes. He asked for $1 million for each vote,” claimed Helal, who said Warner’s offer was rebuffed.
Egypt, one of the countries dominating African football, received no votes in the 2004 FIFA ballot.
FIFA has also been rocked by testimony from disgraced former North American football supremo Chuck Blazer that he and other FIFA executives agreed to accept bribes during bidding for both the 2010 cup and the 1998 event hosted by France; claims denied by both the host nations.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2015.
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