The Guardian newspaper of UK reports today as below:
Prosecutors in New York have revealed new details of alleged bribes paid to Fifa executive committee members to gain their votes for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.
An indictment unsealed on Monday in the US District Court in Brooklyn says Nicolás Leoz, the Paraguayan then president of the South American governing body, Conmebol, and the former Brazil federation president Ricardo Teixeira received bribes to vote for Qatar at the 2010 Fifa executive committee meeting.
Jack Warner, the former president of Concacaf, the governing body for North and Central America, is said to have received $5m in bribes to vote for Russia to host in 2018. The money allegedly came from 10 different shell companies, including entities in Anguilla, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands.
The Guatemala federation president, Rafael Salguero, was also promised a $1m bribe to vote for Russia, according to the indictment. Leoz, who died last August, avoided extradition, as have Warner, from Trinidad & Tobago, and Teixeira. Salguero pleaded guilty in 2018 to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, and one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
In a statement, William F Sweeney Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said: “The profiteering and bribery in international soccer have been deep-seated and commonly known practices for decades.”
FOOTBALL TRIBE EDITORIAL VIEW:
Corruption in football is rampant, and it should be rooted out. The above report, if the allegations are proven true in some cases, definitely highlights the problems the sport faces at the highest levels. Something needs to be done else a veil of cynicism will develop.
At the same time, we anticipate that just like the Russia 2018 World Cup went ahead, so will Qatar 2022. And as long as the football is of high quality and the host nation is gracious, the fans will go on loving their sport.