Chuck Blazer
Wizara ya Sheria ya Marekani imechapisha taarifa inayoelezea jinsi Afisa wa zamani wa FIFA Chuck Blazer alivyokiri kuwa yeye pamoja na wenzake walipokea rushwa ikiwa ni pamoja kuichagua Afrika Kusini kuwa mwenyeji wa fainali ya kombe la dunia mwaka 2010.
Katika taarifa hiyo imeweka wazi mtandao wa malipo ya rushwa ulivyokuwa ukifanywa ndani ya shirikisho la soka duniani FIFA, taarifa zinazoegemea uchunguzi uliofanywa na shirika la kijasusi la Marekani FBI.
Taarifa hiyo ambayo inamwelezea Afisa humo wa zamani wa Fifa Chuck Blazer kukiri kupokea rushwa sasa huenda ikaibua mengi kwenye kashfa ya rushwa inayoindamana shirikisho la FIFA.
Mmerakani huyo kwenye taarifa hiyo inadai alikuwa ni mmoja wa watu waliosuka mipango ya kupokea rushwa katika tukio jingine la fainali la kombe la dunia 1998.
Taarifa za Kukiri zipo katika maandishi wakati wa kesi yake mwaka 2013 wakati kesi yake ilipokuwa akisikilizwa katika mahakama ya Easten New York huko Marekani ambapo alikiri makosa kumi yaliyokuwa yanamkabili.
Blazer alikuwa afisa wa ngazi juu wa FIFA eneo la kanda ya Amerika Kaskazini na Kati na ukanda wa nchi Caribbean kuanzia mwaka 1990 hadi mwaka 2011.
Marekani imefungua kesi ya rushwa inayowakabili maafisa wa FIFA jambo lililofanya Rais wa FIFA Sepp Blatter kuamua kutangaza kujiuzulu.
Mwendesha mashtaka wa Marekani wiki iliyopita aliwashtaki maafisa 14 wa ngazi wa juu wa FIFA tuhuma za rushwa, kutakatisha fesha.
SOMA ZAIDI HAPA:
Former top Fifa official Chuck Blazer admits that he and others on the executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the choice of South Africa as 2010 World Cup host.
The American says he also helped to arrange bribes over the 1998 event.
The admissions come in a newly released transcript from a 2013 US hearing in which he pleads guilty to 10 charges.
The US has launched a wide-ranging criminal case that engulfed Fifa and led President Sepp Blatter to resign.
The US prosecutors last week indicted 14 people on charges of bribery, racketeering and money laundering. Four others had already been charged, including Mr Blazer.
The US justice department alleges they accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period.
Seven of the 14 were top Fifa officials who were arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, as they awaited the Fifa congress. Two were vice-presidents.
'Kickbacks'
The details of Mr Blazer's guilty pleas came as prosecutors unsealed the transcript of the 2013 hearing in the Eastern New York District Court. The admissions are part of a sentencing deal with prosecutors.
Mr Blazer was the second highest official in Fifa's North and Central American and Caribbean region (Concacaf) from 1990 to 2011 and also served on Fifa's executive committee between 1997 and 2013.
In the transcript, prosecutors refer to Fifa "and its membership or constituent organisation" as a RICO enterprise - a Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organisation.
Mr Blazer says: "Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup."
Earlier on Wednesday, South Africa denied paying a $10m bribe to secure the hosting of the 2010 event.
Mr Blazer also says: "I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Gold Cups (the regional championship for national teams)."
Other admissions among the 10 charges in the 40-page dossier include US tax evasion.
Federal agents investigating the tax evasion had detained Mr Blazer and he agreed to co-operate in the US investigations.
He is said to have agreed to record his colleagues using a microphone hidden in a keychain.
The 70-year-old is said to be seriously ill, suffering from colon cancer.
In addition to the US case, Swiss authorities have launched a criminal investigation into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were allocated.
'Stay strong'
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Blatter was given a 10-minute standing ovation by some 400 staff as he returned to Fifa's Zurich headquarters a day after announcing he was to step down.
Reportedly close to tears, he urged his "fantastic team" to "stay strong".
He emphasised the reform work that Fifa now needed to undertake.
In his resignation speech on Tuesday, he said that although he was re-elected president by the congress last Friday it appeared the mandate he had been given did "not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football".
How Fifa makes and spends its money
Fifa, football's governing body, is being investigated by US and Swiss authorities over claims of corruption. Fourteen people, including senior officials, are accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period.
How does the Zurich-based multi-million-pound organisation make its money and what does it spend it on?
The US-led part of the twin investigations is looking at corruption among members of the Concacaf and Conmebol, the confederations that represent national associations across the Americas and the Caribbean.
During the four-year period of the last World Cup, each national association received at least $2m (£1.3m) from Fifa and continental federations received $17.5m (£11.4m). So the total received by all organisations on the American continent between 2011 and 2014 was around $137m.
Meanwhile, the Swiss investigation centres on the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, to be held in Russia and Qatar respectively.
Any uncertainty around the World Cup is a major concern to the organisation. Fifa's own financial reports give a clear indication of how reliant the organisation is on the income each tournament generates.
Making money from the World Cup
The World Cup is the most lucrative sporting event in the world, eclipsing even the Olympics. The 2014 qualifying rounds and final tournament brought in $4.8bn (£3.1bn) over four years and, after costs are taken into account, Fifa made a profit of more than $2bn.
Profit from the 2014 World Cup
That $4.8bn in revenue for the 2014 World Cup can be broken down into five key sections:
How much money does Fifa hold on to?
Fifa re-invests the majority of its revenue but it does hold on to a proportion of any profit to create a cash reserve. Fifa says that the reserve is important as it is extremely difficult to find insurance to cover the possible last-minute cancellation of a World Cup.
The value of this reserve has grown sharply in the last decade from $350m (£228.6m) in 2005 to more than $1.5bn (£1bn) in 2014.
The US indictment alleges over $150m (£97m) in corruption during a period of over 20 years. That currently equates to around 10% of the money Fifa has on hand for emergencies.
Design by Salim Qurashi and Gerry Fletcher
CREDIT: BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment