FIFA: No End to the Corruption

Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, in a paid political broadcast, announced Wednesday that he would be able to provide a link between the soccer organization and national elections held in Trinidad and Tobago.

Warner says he has documents he will release to the public that connect the election to FIFA President Sepp Blatter (per The Guardian):

“Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming” he said. “The die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall.”

Warner is yet to produce any documentation to support his allegations.

He also said in the televised address, which was a paid political advertisement, that “I reasonably actually fear for my life.”

The stunning revelations out of Marabella, Trinidad come just hours after a transcript was made public of former FIFA executive Chuck Blazer’s admission that he and other members of the all-powerful executive committee were bribed in return for voting for South Africa’s bid for the 2010 World Cup.

Chuck Blazer, a 70-year-old soccer chief, first made the admission in testimony to a New York judge in 2013, the details of which had not been publicly available until now, following a petition from three New York-based reporters.

It revealed how the judge in the case, Raymond Dearie, referred to FIFA as a “racketeering influenced corrupt organisation,” the same terminology used in cases of organised crime, and only allowed the hearing to proceed after the Brooklyn courtroom had been locked.

Sepp Blatter was president of FIFA for 17 years and was re-elected last week for his fifth term, but due to mounting political pressure, he stepped down Tuesday. Throughout the years, a slew of allegations of corruption, bribery and illegal activities has dogged him and the organization; but Blatter maintained his grip on power until the end of May, when 18 FIFA officials and marketing executives were slapped with charges including racketeering, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering, and income tax and banking offenses.

A Brazilian probe is also underway into more than $150 million missing from last year’s World Cup tournament in Rio de Janeiro, as well as into a $10 million bribe that Blatter’s longtime general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, allegedly received.

Russia and Qatar are in line to host the next two World Cups — in 2018 and 2022, respectively — despite widely reported details of exploitation in Qatar, including physical and sexual abuse, of migrant workers constructing the FIFA stadiums. As for the United States’ involvement in the FIFA fracas, the FBI is looking into how those two countries were tapped to host the tournament.

To read Chuck Blazer’s testimony (as mentioned in quote above), click here.

Watch Sepp Blatter announce his resignation below:

— Posted by Donald Kaufman.