What is the FIFA scandal?
In 2015, U.S. federal prosecutors disclosed cases of corruption by officials and associates connected with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer.
How many officials were charged in the FIFA crisis?
Retrieved 24 March 2018. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q no byline (3 December 2015). "Fifa crisis: US charges 16 more officials after earlier Zurich arrests". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015.
How many people have been indicted in the FIFA corruption case?
Indicted individuals and corporations. A total of 18 individuals and two corporations have been indicted, including nine FIFA officials and five businessmen.
What is the FIFA Ethics Committee’s role in the corruption scandal?
FIFA’s Independent Ethics Committee also received an extended mandate to investigate violations of FIFA’s Code of Ethics in connection to the corruption scandal.
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Who was involved in the FIFA scandal?
More than six years after being ousted in a sprawling soccer corruption scandal, the former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his onetime ally Michel Platini were indicted on fraud charges on Tuesday by the authorities in Switzerland, who accused the men of arranging a secret $2 million payment.
Who exposed FIFA corruption?
Andrew JenningsLONDON (AP) — Andrew Jennings, a groundbreaking investigative journalist who exposed the darker corners of the Olympic movement and soccer body FIFA, has died.
How did FIFA handle corruption?
Fifa, world football's governing body, will receive over $201m (£146.5m) in forfeited funds seized during a global corruption probe, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), said on Tuesday.
Did the FBI investigate FIFA?
The IRS and FBI's five-year investigation into FIFA, its executive committee and its six regional soccer federations still isn't over. So far, 32 officials have been indicted, but Sepp Blatter, FIFA's former president, has avoided charges.
Which countries bribed FIFA?
U.S. Says FIFA Officials Were Bribed to Award World Cups to Russia and Qatar. For nearly a decade, Russia and Qatar have been suspected of buying votes to win hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
How much did Qatar bribe FIFA?
According to leaked documents obtained by The Sunday Times, Qatari state-run television channel Al Jazeera secretly offered $400 million to FIFA, for broadcasting rights, just 21 days before FIFA announced that Qatar will hold the 2022 World Cup.
Is FIFA a criminal organization?
The revelation of the criminal charges set off an international firestorm. Then, in December 2015, authorities made public a superseding indictment that expanded the number of suspects charged, and explained in further detail why prosecutors considered FIFA to be a criminal enterprise.
Which countries are prosecuting former FIFA executives?
GENEVA (AP) — Former FIFA officials Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were charged with fraud and other offenses by Swiss prosecutors on Tuesday after a six-year investigation into a controversial $2 million payment.
Who is the boss of FIFA?
Giovanni Vincenzo InfantinoGiovanni Vincenzo Infantino (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni vinˈtʃɛntso iɱfanˈtiːno]; born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss-Italian football administrator and the current president of FIFA. He was elected President of FIFA during the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress in February 2016.
Why did the US investigate FIFA?
The charges largely relate to "the systematic payment of bribes and kickbacks" that were paid by marketing executives who wanted to increase their chances at winning contracts for the rights to market and sell media access to tournaments.
How long is the ban of Jerome Valcke?
While Blatter's was due to expire later this year, Valcke's initial ban was for 10 years as they were separate cases -- the Frenchman's first suspension expires in October of 2025 with the six additional years taking him into 2031.
Which of the following were charged in the FIFA indictment?
All told, the soccer officials are charged with conspiring to solicit and receive well over $150 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for their official support of the sports marketing executives who agreed to make the unlawful payments.
How many members does FIFA have?
FIFA is composed of 209 member associations, each representing organized soccer in a particular nation or territory, including the United States and four of its overseas territories. FIFA also recognizes six continental confederations that assist it in governing soccer in different regions of the world.
How much did the defendants pay in kickbacks?
The defendants also include U.S. and South American sports marketing executives who are alleged to have systematically paid and agreed to pay well over $150 million in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments.
How much did Hawilla forfeit?
Hawilla also agreed to forfeit over $151 million, $25 million of which was paid at the time of his plea. On May 14, 2015, the defendants Traffic Sports USA Inc. and Traffic Sports International Inc. pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.
What is the racketeering conspiracy?
The indictment alleges that, between 1991 and the present, the defendants and their co-conspirators corrupted the enterprise by engaging in various criminal activities , including fraud, bribery and money laundering.
What was Daryan Warner charged with?
25, 2013, the defendant Daryan Warner waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a three-count information charging him with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and the structuring of financial transactions.
What is the name of the company that sold TV rights to the Datisa scheme?
The president of a couple of companies that sell TV rights, Marguiles was part of the Datisa scheme, acting as an intermediary between Full Play and Esquivel, and collecting some money for his part. He is charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.
Who is the lowest profile person in the indictment?
Rocha is also the former president of the Central American Football Union . He's charged with racketeering, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
What did Webb do before he got into soccer?
Before he got into soccer full time, Webb worked at a bank in the Cayman Islands. He was singled out by the DOJ in their press conference as having taken over $10 million in bribes -- Datisa and CONMEBOL had to get him to agree to the 2016 Copa America, since it's being held in a CONCACAF country, and involving CONCACAF teams. He's charged with multiple counts of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.
What is Jack Warner's son charged with?
Warner is charged with wire fraud and the structuring of financial transactions
Who is Blatter's challenger?
If the FIFA presidential election is held as scheduled on Friday, Blatter's lone challenger will be Prince Ali, current FIFA vice president and head of Jordan's FA. He has vowed to fight corruption and wants the Garcia Report, an investigation into corruption allegations surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, to be published in full. He promises to clean up FIFA quickly so they can return their focus to actual sporting development. You can read his manifesto here.
Is Platini a corrupt FIFA president?
Though he has never accused Blatter of being corrupt and claims that he likes the FIFA president personally , Platini has asked Blatter to step down and has indicated that he will support Ali in the upcoming election. Platini had previously threatened to boycott the FIFA congress altogether, but changed his position after FIFA executives met on Thursday. While Platini is much more popular than Blatter and is not regularly accused of corruption, he did vote for Qatar to win the rights to host the 2022 World Cup
Why is FIFA a legal takedown?
FIFA is uniquely positioned for this kind of epic legal takedown because the Justice Department kind of gets off on this heavy-lifting display of authority even outside American borders over the past decade. Also, it helps that Americans don't really care about soccer.
Why did Swiss police raid a hotel?
Swiss police on Wednesday raided a Zurich hotel to detain top FIFA football officials as part of a US investigation into corruption. Philipp Schmidli/Getty. Early this morning in Zurich (or late last night for those of us stateside), Swiss plainclothes police entered the Baur au Lac; the five-star hotel was the site of this week's annual meeting ...
Why do sports leagues lock out players?
Endemically American sports leagues—the NFL, NBA, MLB for instance—can get away with holding cities hostage for taxpayer money to rebuild stadiums, or locking out players to get a larger share of league revenue, because Americans care too much about seeing the sport to rise up against the shady business.
Which countries have the same say in the federation?
That means that the Maldives, Trinidad & Tobago, or Andorra have the same say in federation decisions as Brazil, Germany, or England.
Is FIFA a federal case?
This is a federal case, and the indictment deals chiefly with alleged fraud and corruption in North and South America. Until now, FIFA has deflected widespread corruption allegations by finding and suspending scapegoats, rather than acknowledging any problems at an institutional level.
Is FIFA a nonprofit?
But while he maintains that FIFA is but a humble nonprofit doing humanitarian work to bring sport to the world, he’s basically the head of a shadow nation-state that doesn’t "govern" world soccer so much as it plunders countries that want to host the World Cup. (Like, say, Qatar .)
How many people were indicted for corruption in FIFA?
This is in addition to the 14 people - nine Fifa officials and five corporate executives - indicted on corruption charges at the end of May, some of whom have now been convicted. Several other individuals and entities have pleaded guilty and have been convicted.
Who was the Fifa president who was arrested?
He enjoyed the backing of Fifa president Sepp Blatter, 77, who singled him out as his possible successor to head Fifa. Webb was one of seven men arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, on 27 May.
Why did Nicolas Leoz leave the Fifa?
Nicolas Leoz, 87, resigned from Fifa's powerful executive committee on "health and personal" grounds in 2013. In November 2010, the Paraguayan official was accused by the BBC's Panorama programme of taking bribes in the 1990s from the now defunct sports rights agency ISL.
What was the name of the football association that Mr. Warner was the president of?
He was also president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) until 2011. After he resigned, Fifa dropped its inquiry into whether he was involved in any corruption. Mr Warner returned to Trinidad and Tobago, where he became minister of security.
Is Rafael Callejas extradited?
In January 2016, he agreed to be extradited to the US. Honduran ex- president Rafael Callejas, a member of Fifa's TV and marketing committee, said: "He assured and guaranteed that he was not involved in anything illicit.". Mr Callejas later also appeared on the list of those newly indicted.
How many FIFA officials were arrested?
Fourteen FIFA officials were arrested and indicted in connection with an investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Justice Department into wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering, spanning a period of 24 years.
When did FIFA reforms start?
FIFA officially started the process when it convened a special session of the FIFA Congress on February 26, 2016, in response to the corruption case.
What are the reforms in FIFA?
Some of the reforms included separating the management part of the organization from the political, limiting terms of office, performing consistent integrity checks, and greater transparency in day-to-day operations. FIFA’s Independent Ethics Committee also received an extended mandate to investigate violations of FIFA’s Code ...
Why did Swiss authorities seize documents from FIFA offices?
Swiss authorities seize documents from FIFA offices as part of a separate criminal investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
Who is the FIFA president who accuses the US of reaching beyond its borders?
Mbalula accuses the U.S. of reaching “beyond its borders.”. May 29: Advertisement. Blatter is elected to a fifth four-year term as FIFA president. “I take the responsibility to bring back FIFA,” Blatter says. Blatter outpolls rival, Ali 133-73 in the first round of voting.
What did Putin say about the Russia investigation?
Russian President Vladimir Putin describes the criminal investigations as “yet another evident attempt to derail Mr. Blatter’s reelection” and says the U.S.-led arrests had an ulterior motive — to throw into question Russia’s 2018 World Cup.
Who is Blatter pitted against?
A FIFA election in which Blatter, 79, is pitted against the candidate Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan for the presidency, will go ahead as planned. “I can’t monitor everyone all of the time. If people want to do wrong, they will also try to hide it,” Blatter says.
Who is the secretary general of FIFA?
FIFA announces that its secretary general, Jerome Valcke — Blatter’s top lieutenant — won’t attend the women’s World Cup in Canada. A few hours later, the New York Times reports federal authorities believe Valcke was behind the $10 million in bank transactions that are at the center of FIFA’s corruption scandal.
Did Muhammad Ali withdraw from the second round?
Ali withdraws from a mandated second round in which he was nearly certain to lose. May 31: Blatter suggests why the criminal investigations were launched. “The Americans were the candidates for the World Cup of 2022 and they lost,” Blatter says.
Overview
Allegations
The 2015 arrests centre on the alleged use of bribery, fraud and money laundering to corrupt the issuing of media and marketing rights for FIFA games in the Americas, estimated at $150 million, including at least $110 million in bribes related to the Copa América Centenario to be hosted in 2016 in the United States. In addition, the indictment handed down by the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, alleges that bribery was used in an attempt to influence clothing sponsorshi…
Timeline of events
In 2001, FIFA affiliate International Sports and Leisure went bankrupt in what were viewed in some circles as suspicious circumstances. In 2002 a FIFA whistleblower contacted British journalist Andrew Jennings relating to alleged corruption within FIFA itself.
Following investigations Swiss magistrate Thomas Hildbrand seized documents from FIFA offices in 2005 and in 2007 Jennings published a book – Foul – and broadcast the BBC Panoram…
Response to indictments
On 29 May 2015, Sepp Blatter won re-election to the FIFA presidency at the 65th FIFA Congress in Zurich amid growing criticism over his position. Four days later, however, he announced that he would continue as president only until a new election would be conducted at a 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress on 26 February 2016. Blatter said that he would not be a candidate for election at tha…
See also
• 2014 protests in Brazil: pointing and partially caused by widespread corruption on the 2014 FIFA World Cup
• 2015 Greek football scandal
• 2018 FIFA World Cup controversies
• ChangeFIFA
External links
• United States of America v. Jeffrey Webb, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Jack Warner, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel, Jose Maria Marin, Nicolas Leoz, Alejandro Burzaco, Aaron Davidson, Hugo Jinkis, Mariano Jinkis, and Jose Margulies, aka Jose Lazaro, F.#2015R00747 (U.S. District Court – Brooklyn Office May 20, 2015)
• The FIFA Investigation, Explained