World Cup of fraud

28 May 2015 - 02:10 By Mark Gleeson ,Graeme Hosken and Shaun Smillie

After a day of arrests that tore into the heart of international soccer's highest governing body, the question now is who is the high-ranking South African bid committee official the FBI names only as co-conspirator #15. Its indictment states that the man or woman handed over a briefcase filled with US currency in $10000 stacks to a high-ranking Fifa official in a Paris hotel room.That official was Jack Warner, the disgraced former Fifa vice-president and executive committee member and the president of Concacaf (the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) who resigned from all football positions in June 2011 after Fifa's ethics committee opened proceedings concerning at least three corruption and bribery charges. Last night, US Attorney-General Loretta Lynch said the investigation that had resulted in yesterday's arrest of 14 Fifa officials - including Warner - was just at the beginning. She did not say who #15 was or if his or her arrest was pending. The 164-page indictment, which does not name any South Africans, alleges that South Africa sought to pay Warner, who held a powerful block of Caribbean votes, in exchange for his support of the country's 2010 World Cup bid.Warner and his co-accused have been charged with racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracies.The indictment says that in the early-2000s Warner instructed co-conspirator #14, a member of his family, to fly to Paris to meet coconspirator #15 and collect the briefcase. In 2004, co-conspirator #1 learnt from Warner that high-ranking officials of Fifa, the South African government and the local World Cup bidding committee were allegedly preparing to arrange for the government to pay $10-million to secure votes for the 2010 bid. When no money could be raised from the government, Fifa paid over the $10-million itself from money that should have gone to South Africa for the organising of the World Cup, the indictment says. It provides dates and amounts of wire transfers to US banks.Morocco, who South Africa beat to host the 2010 event, offered $1-million. Lynch said that even for the historic 2010 event - the first in Africa - F ifa executives and others "corrupted the process by using bribes to influence the hosting decision". Warner said yesterday he was innocent of any charges.The head of the 2010 bidding committee, Danny Jordaan - who is to be inaugurated as mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay next week - was unavailable for comment. It is not the first time corruption in the 2010 Cup has been alleged. Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Malaudzi said in 2012/13 allegations had been made concerning a Singapore national."Investigations were conducted but unfortunately nothing materialised from these investigations." He said the Hawks had been made aware of the current FBI investigation and would, if called on, assist the US agency. Neal Collins, a freelance journalist who has written several books on Fifa, said the arrests should have happened years ago. "South Africa was the most profitable World Cup for Fifa. Fifa literally raped South Africa of money," he said."Without question" there were South African links to the Fifa corruption and these links would go all the way to the top of the country's political realm, Collins said.The dawn raids on a luxury hotel in Zurich were followed by the announcement of a second investigation, by Swiss authorities, into corruption over voting for the hosts of the next two World Cups.They announced yesterday they are to question 10 Fifa executive committee members, including Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football, Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast) and Hany Abo Rida from Egypt.African officials have been fingered by the Qataris in vote-buying.Last night, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said it welcomed the "actions and the investigations by the US and Swiss authorities"."Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game." ..

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