June 5, 2015

Corruption in FIFA

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“FIFA’s ugly stains on the beautiful game,” editorial, The Washington Post, May 27:

“… it is entirely proper, and laudable, that Attorney General Loretta Lynch has issued an indictment officially alleging what had long been rumored: FIFA is a cesspool of corruption and bribery. …

“The U.S. investigation is still in its early phases, which is good, because there are much bigger issues to be resolved. Soccer fans have long been mystified at FIFA’s choice of Vladimir Putin’s increasingly aggressive and repressive Russia over several Western European candidates to host the World Cup in 2018, and rich but tiny and climatically unsuitable Qatar over the United States, Australia and a joint Japanese-Korean bid for 2022. Many presumed that bribery of FIFA executives explained these bizarre picks, a presumption not weakened by the indictment – nor by the fact that Switzerland opened a criminal investigation of the 2018 and 2022 Cup bids on the same day that Swiss agents helped U.S. prosecutors by arresting several indicted FIFA officials in Zurich.

Yes, soccer is just a game, but corrupt or dictatorial rulers love to bask in its reflected glory. That’s why it would be misguided even without bribery to celebrate the World Cup in Mr. Putin’s Russia or in Qatar, where oppressed Asian guest workers labor to build stadiums for the tournament. Now would be a good time for FIFA to nullify its award to those two countries and reopen the bidding under independent supervision. …”

FIFA’s Corruption Stains World Soccer,” editorial, The New York Times, May 27:

“… In a sudden and stunning move, the Justice Department charged 14 soccer officials and sports-marketing executives with ‘rampant, systemic and deep-rooted’ corruption. Seven were promptly arrested by Swiss authorities in Zurich… At the same time, Swiss prosecutors announced their own criminal investigation into FIFA’s puzzling simultaneous award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar, seizing electronic data and documents at FIFA headquarters. …

“…Those selections immediately raised suspicion of foul play when they were announced in December 2010, and the controversy has only deepened with reports about the appalling treatment of foreign laborers working on World Cup facilities in the blistering heat of Qatar. Hundreds of migrant workers, many from Nepal and other South Asian countries, have died in conditions that have violated international labor laws and human rights. …

“This time, FIFA should not be allowed to pretend that the problem is a few corrupt officials. A first step is the immediate ouster of Mr. [Sepp] Blatter and the restructuring of FIFA. The selection of Russia and Qatar should be subject to rigorous re-examination. Short of convincing proof to refute evidence of misconduct in the Qatar decision and swift action to improve the conditions for foreign workers, that award should be withdrawn.”

“Russia: U.S. FIFA Investigation is Illegal, Extraterritorial Use of Law,” by Red Standish, Foreign Policy, May 27:

“Less than 24 hours after U.S. and Swiss authorities unveiled a sweeping investigation into corruption at the highest ranks of FIFA, including how the 2018 World Cup was awarded to Russia, Moscow is hitting back.

“In a statement Wednesday, Moscow accused Washington of illegally applying its laws around the world. ‘Once again we are calling on Washington to stop attempts to make justice far beyond its borders using its legal norms and to follow the generally accepted international legal procedures,’ said Alexander Lukashevich, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, adding that the recently announced investigation is ‘clearly another case of illegal exterritorial use of U.S. law.’

“The charges are particularly sensitive for Moscow, which has found its moment in the World Cup spotlight tarnished by allegations of mismanagement, accusations of human rights abuses and international calls for a boycott following the Ukraine crisis.

“… allegations of corruption have swirled around the Kremlin’s courting of FIFA officials in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup vote, and authorities in Switzerland say they are investigating how that tournament and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were awarded.

“Despite controversy over Russia hosting the World Cup, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has defended the decision. Following the annexation of Crimea, Blatter told reporters at an April 2014 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that ‘if a few politicians are not particularly happy that we are hosting the World Cup in Russia, then I always tell them: ‘Well then, stay at home.’ ”

“Sanction FIFA and Putin at the Same Time: Take the 2018 World Cup from Russia,” by Paul Roderick Gregory, Forbes, May 28:

“…The two largest public relations feathers in Vladimir Putin’s hat are the Sochi Olympics and now the upcoming World Cup.

“Nothing could be worse for Putin than losing the 2018 World Cup; it would be more severe than the economic recession and Russia’s declining living standards. Russians can live without imported foods and Turkish vacations, but they may not tolerate being branded as a rogue nation not deserving a World Cup. …

“The U.S. Justice Department has ordered the arrest and extradition to the United States of 14 defendants associated with FIFA… [and] pledged to end FIFA’s ‘corrupt practices’… The Justice Department action has lent weight to the demand of thirteen prominent U.S. senators, dated April 1, to FIFA president [Sepp] Blatter to relocate the 2018 World Cup from Moscow to a less controversial venue. …

“Kremlin propaganda has shifted into high gear. In an on-camera interview, Russia’s World Cup representative expressed surprise that the ‘armed conflict’ in Ukraine could be considered a reason to relocate the 2018 World Cup. He intoned disdainfully that Russia has no involvement in Ukraine and that the Minsk Peace accord, brokered by Russia, has ended the conflict. Thus, he said, Russia’s only role in Ukraine is that of a peacemaker.  Russia’s sports minister rushed before the cameras to declare that ‘Russia has nothing to hide.’ Blatter declared that ‘there are no boycotts’ in international soccer and that ‘football [soccer] is an instrument of peace.’ …”

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