FIFA's leaders meet amidst latest scandal storm

FIFA's executive committee were gathering on Tuesday as acting president Issa Hayatou attempts to steer football's embattled governing body through the latest storm of scandals to blight their Zurich headquarters.

The extraordinary meeting was announced on October 9 after FIFA's ethics committee suspended president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke, and Michel Platini for 90 days from all football-related activities.

The trio are all banned from attending what will be the first executive committee meeting held without Blatter's presence for 40 years and Hayatou sees restoring public trust as a matter of priority.

Cameroon's Hayatou takes charge of FIFA's helm amidst the worst scandals in the organisation's 111-year history and it will be far from business as usual.

"It’s certainly an unprecedented situation for FIFA," said the 69-year-old.

"But we remain focused on the necessary reform process, the presidential election and on supporting the current investigations.

"To restore public trust is a crucial objective. It is essential that FIFA carries on its mission of developing the game and staging international tournaments."

On the agenda, the executive committee will hear the first recommendations from FIFA's reform committee, tasked with suggesting changes within FIFA's corridors of power, with the aims of restoring it's badly tarnished credibility.

The increased need for transparency on renumeration is poised to be discussed, but the backdrop to the meeting remains the power struggle ahead of the FIFA presidential election on February 26 at next year's extraordinary congress.

FIFA's leaders meet in Zurich with the organisation under-fire from all sides.

After several key sponsors called for Blatter to resign, FIFA took the unprecedented step of suspending it's president based on suspicions a two million Swiss franc ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) payment made by Blatter to Platini in 2011 was not above board.

Neither have explained the reason for the nine-year delay in payment for work Platini carried out as Blatter’s technical advisor from 1999 to 2002.

Platini, president of European football's governing body UEFA, had been seen as favourite to replace Blatter as FIFA president in next year's elections until he was named in a Swiss criminal investigation into Blatter's management of FIFA.

Swiss investigators are also looking into FIFA's awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar in a bribery scandal which has seen 14 people arrested by American and Swiss authorities.

Seven former FIFA officials were arrested by Swiss authorities in May as the United States attempts to have them extradited to face charges of accepting bribes.

Over the weekend, allegations of cash-for-votes by magazine Der Spiegel has drawn the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany into question and the German Football Association (DFB) has strenuously denied any wrong-doing.

Then on Monday, Platini admitted he had no written contract for the two million Swiss franc payment by Blatter, but had a "man-to-man agreement" as his chances of replacing the Swiss veteran as head of the world body nosedived.

Platini told French newspaper Le Monde he felt Blatter was seeking to "kill me politically" over the contested payment and says he feels "shame at being dragged through the mud".

The Frenchman believes he is "the only one who can ensure that FIFA again becomes the home of football".

So far, only two candidates have officially submitted applications to stand as FIFA president: Platini and Jordan's Prince Ali bin al Hussein, who pushed Blatter to a second round of voting in May's election.

Possible other runners include South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale, a former cellmate of Nelson Mandela, and Jerome Champagne, the former deputy secretary general of FIFA.

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FIFA chief Blatter faces criminal probe, cloud over Platini

Embattled Sepp Blatter was urged to stand down as FIFA president on Saturday after he was placed under a criminal investigation as his heir-apparent Michel Platini also came under scrutiny over a murky multi-million-dollar payment.

In a dramatic escalation of the corruption scandal engulfing world football Swiss investigators accompanied by Swiss police swept into FIFA's headquarters on Friday as their attention turned to Blatter and Platini.

"Swiss criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA, Mr. Joseph Blatter, have been opened on September 24, 2015 on suspicion of criminal mismanagement...and - alternatively - misappropriation," said a statement from Switzerland's attorney general's office (OAG).

 This stunning development came after months of probes following raids in Zurich which led to the indictment of more than a dozen top officials.

Swiss prosecutors said Blatter was being investigated over the 2005 sale of World Cup television rights to the Caribbean Football Union, then run by his former ally Jack Warner, a deal which had been "unfavourable for FIFA".

Blatter was also suspected of a "disloyal payment" of two million dollars to Platini in February 2011 allegedly made for work the Frenchman carried out for FIFA between 1999 and 2002, before he was elected head of UEFA.

Saturday's headlines in the Swiss press made uncomfortable reading for the beleaguered Blatter.

"Blatter should go as quickly as possible" was the blunt advice given to the 79-year-old football strongman by Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

"It is imperative that he now at least quickly abandons ship," the daily suggested in an editorial.

Blick's front page headline was bleaker: "Blatter risks jail....Twilight years behind bars?"

 - Platini blow -

Swiss authorities said Blatter was questioned as "a suspect", while Platini had been quizzed "as a person called upon to give information".

Blatter's lawyer Richard Cullen stressed that the FIFA boss was cooperating with Swiss authorities and that a review of the evidence would show "no mismanagement occurred".

Platini defended the payment he received in 2011, made three months before the Frenchman announced he would not challenge Blatter for re-election during that year's race for the FIFA presidency.

"Concerning the payment that was made to me, I wish to state that this amount relates to work which I carried out under a contract with FIFA," said the UEFA boss.

"I was pleased to have been able to clarify all matters relating to this with the authorities."

But he offered no explanation as to why the payment had arrived almost a decade after the work had been completed.

However, a former FIFA insider, who requested anonymity, told AFP that Platini's hopes of being elected to replace Blatter next year had been damaged by Friday's revelations.

"Platini took a serious blow" by even being mentioned in the Swiss statement, the source told AFP.

Blatter "is finished now ... Platini will struggle to recover from being questioned".

Friday's turn of events came after a press conference that Blatter was scheduled to give was suddenly cancelled.

Platini is a former Blatter ally who turned against the veteran Swiss sports baron over the past 18 months as FIFA's troubles mounted.

The investigation is also into Blatter's links with Warner, a former FIFA vice-president now at the centre of a US investigation.

 - 'Unfavourable to FIFA' -

The attorney general said Blatter was suspected of making a deal "unfavourable to FIFA" with the Caribbean Football Union, which Warner used as his power base.

A Trinidad court on Friday announced it would rule on December 2 on whether Warner should be extradited to the United States.

Warner is one of 14 soccer officials and business executives charged by US prosecutors of involvement in more than $150 million in bribes for football broadcasting and marketing deals.

Nearly all of the suspects are from central and South America. Until recent days, FIFA's top leadership had escaped accusations flying around the world body, which earns $5 billion from the World Cup.

Swiss officials arrested seven FIFA officials, who are among the US suspects, on May 27 in Zurich just ahead of the world body's congress.

Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term at the congress despite the storm but then announced on June 4 that he would stand down.

Since then, FIFA has announced steps to make reforms but has been shaken by new corruption claims.

FIFA this month suspended Blatter's right-hand man Jerome Valcke after he was accused of involvement in an accord to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup at inflated prices.

Valcke strongly denied the allegations but FIFA handed over emails from the suspended secretary general that had been demanded by the Swiss attorney general.

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FIFA reels as Valcke suspended in fresh blow

FIFA reeled from fresh scandal as Secretary General Jerome Valcke was dramatically suspended over allegations of involvement in a ticketing scam and placed under investigation.

Valcke, the right-hand man of outgoing FIFA President Sepp Blatter, was immediately relieved of his duties as the latest wave of sleaze crashed into world football's governing body.

Switzerland, meanwhile, ruled on Thursday that a former FIFA vice-president should be extradited to the US in a corruption probe, the first suspect facing a forced transfer over the graft allegations that have shaken world football.

Valcke "has been put on leave and released from his duties effective immediately until further notice," said a FIFA statement.

"Further, FIFA has been made aware of a series of allegations involving the secretary general and has requested a formal investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee."

The 54-year-old French official had already been forced to deny involvement in a $10 million payment to South Africa in the wake of corruption allegations that forced Blatter's resignation earlier this year.

The latest claims against Valcke related to accusations of involvement in a scam to sell World Cup tickets at vastly inflated prices and take a slice of the profits.

The claims were made by Benny Alon, an American-Israeli consultant at a company which had a deal with FIFA to sell tickets at the 2014 World Cup. The contract was subsequently cancelled.

In a strongly-worded statement issued by Valcke's US-based attorney, the official decried the allegations as false.

"Jerome Valcke unequivocally denies the fabricated and outrageous accusations by Benny Alon of alleged wrongdoing in connection with the sale of World Cup tickets," the statement from New York attorney Barry Berke said.

The statement said Valcke "never received or agreed to accept any money or anything else of value from Mr Alon".

All dealings between Valcke and Alon's company had been cleared by FIFA's legal department, the statement added.

- Corruption scandal -

FIFA have been embroiled in a major corruption scandal since the arrest of seven of its officials attending a FIFA congress in May in Zurich to elect a new president.

They are among 14 people charged by US authorities over more than $150 million in bribes given for television and marketing deals.

Despite the arrests, the election went ahead with Blatter winning a fifth mandate although the 79-year-old then announced he would be standing down with a new election scheduled for February.

In the latest step in the probe, Switzerland ruled that former FIFA vice-president Eugenio Figueredo should be extradited to the United States.

Figueredo, a Uruguayan national, has been charged by the US justice department with using his influence to solicit millions of dollars in bribes from sports marketing firms. He was among the seven FIFA officials arrested in May.

One of those arrested, Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands, agreed to extradition and was sent to the US in July, but the remaining six had challenged a transfer to American courts.

Valcke came under scrutiny in recent months over what he knew about a $10 million payment from the South African FA to an account controlled by Jack Warner, the then North and Central American (CONCACAF) football chief, through FIFA in 2008.

US investigators believe the money was a bribe in return for backing South Africa getting the 2010 World Cup.

FIFA has insisted it only acted as an intermediary between South Africa and former FIFA vice-president Warner, who quit world football's governing body and his other functions in 2011 over other corruption allegations.

Valcke has found himself under scrutiny during his FIFA career.

In 2006 he was forced to step down as the football body's director of marketing after a New York court judged he had lied by negotiating FIFA deals with Visa in breach of existing contracts with Mastercard.

FIFA was later fined $60 million over the case, but Valcke re-emerged unscathed when he was installed as secretary general in June 2007.

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I will be appreciated when I've gone, says Blatter

ZURICH - Outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes his critics will realize they have been wrong and will recognize his achievements once he has left soccer's world governing body.

In an interview with the BBC, the 79-year-old Swiss defended his record at the head of scandal-plagued FIFA and said he was respected in many parts of the world.

Blatter noted he was often subjected to hostile treatment on social media but said: "Go to the world, go to Asia, go to Africa... go to China, ask them what they think about FIFA and Blatter, that's different.

"At least (I am) respected because I have done a lot. Not only me but FIFA has done a lot and I have served this FIFA. I am sure this will be recognised, that the big job that has been done by FIFA and by myself... (over) 40 years.

"I am sure people are realising that the job I have done in FIFA is a good job, it's the right job for the development of football, the right job for education of youth," he added.

"If there are people who don't like the organisation or don't like me, they will realise they have been wrong... they will realise that."

Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term on May 29 but four days later announced he would lay down his mandate as FIFA was engulfed in the worst crisis in its 111-year history.

FIFA was thrown into turmoil when 14 sports marketing executives and soccer officials, including several from FIFA, were indicted in the United States in late May on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges involving more than $150 million in payments.

Seven of those accused were arrested by Swiss police in a dawn raid on a luxury Zurich hotel two days before the FIFA Congress where Blatter was re-elected.

Blatter's replacement is due to be elected at an extraordinary Congress on Feb. 26.

Blatter, often looking uncomfortable during the 20-minute interview at FIFA headquarters, reiterated that it was individuals rather than FIFA who were under investigation.

"The institution is not corrupt... there is no corruption in football, there is corruption with individuals," he said.

He also repeated his criticism of the method for choosing the FIFA executive committee, whose members are elected by the continental confederations rather than the FIFA Congress.

"I have to take people, they are not my people," he said. "I cannot be morally responsible for other people."

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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FIFA scandal to get Hollywood movie treatment

Actor-director Ben Affleck is to help produce a feature film about the corruption scandal that has rocked world soccer and its governing body FIFA, the author of an upcoming book said on Friday.

Affleck and his friend since childhood, actor Matt Damon, will be among the producers of the as-yet-untitled movie for Hollywood studio Warner Bros., the author, U.S. reporter Ken Bensinger, told Reuters.

It is expected to focus on the role of American Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA official. Bensinger said that actor John Goodman had been mentioned as a possible option to portray the 70-year-old Blazer, who has a curly white beard and has in the past tipped the scales at more than 400 pounds.

A spokeswoman for Goodman said she was not aware of any discussions about the part.

The deal was first reported on Friday by trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.

Blazer, the former general secretary of CONCACAF, soccer's governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean, has secretly provided U.S. prosecutors with information about alleged bribery and kickbacks in connection with bidding to host the 1998 and 2010 soccer World Cups.

Blazer pleaded guilty in 2013 to 10 criminal counts, according to a plea deal unsealed by U.S. prosecutors earlier this month,

Seven current or former soccer officials were arrested on U.S. corruption charges in a raid on a Swiss hotel in late May as part of a wide-ranging investigation. The following week, FIFA President Sepp Blatter - just days after being reelected - said he would be stepping down.

The movie is to be based on Bensinger's proposed book "Houses of Deceit", which went to a bidding war between Hollywood studios after the FIFA scandal broke in May.

Bensinger, an investigative reporter for U.S. news website Buzzfeed.com, said the book was still in its early stages and was unlikely to be published before 2017.

DIFFERENT PASSIONS

"I'm excited about the challenge of putting together this book and the prospects for a movie. I think this story has amazing potential to capture the interest of a wide range of people and not just soccer fans, because it touches on fundamental human themes of power, greed, corruption and justice," Bensinger added in a statement.

That will make it very different from a FIFA-funded movie, "United Passions," which explores the 111-year history of the organization and attempts to show it as a force for good. The 2014 French movie, which was first screened in the U.S. this month, has been widely panned by critics and has been a massive box office flop.

Bensinger said that director Gavin O'Connor may be involved in his movie.

Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., declined to comment on Friday, saying the studio did not comment about projects that may be in development.

Blazer is now in hospital with cancer and unable to speak. But in his pomp he chronicled his globe-trotting activities to spread the good word for FIFA on his blog. He is pictured with Nelson Mandela and soccer legends George Best and Pele. He can also be seen with an exotic dancer, his parrot, and dressed up like a pirate.

The New York Daily News reported last year that he kept an apartment in the city mainly for his cats and needed a fleet of mobility scooters to get about.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Martin Howell)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com