Blatter 'cannot say who were angels and devils' as new bribery claims emerge
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has promised to address the latest allegations of bribery within the organisation.
The shock claims were highlighted in the UK by MPs at the culture, media and sport committee in the House of Commons.
Tory MP Damian Collins said that evidence submitted by the Sunday Times, which the committee will publish, claimed that FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou from Cameroon and Jacques Anouma from the Ivory Coast were paid €1.5m (€1m) by Qatar.
Former Football Association and England 2018 chairman Lord Triesman later gave evidence of "improper and unethical" behaviour by four other executive committee members.
Sepp Blatter said, according to Sky Sports News: “If this is true, I will fight this. I am fighting for FIFA to clean FIFA. I cannot answer for individual members of our committee. I cannot say if they are all angels or if they are all devils.”
Warner said the allegations made against him by Triesman were “a piece of nonsense”.
He told Sky Sports News that Triesman “no doubt feels he can revive his dying political career by mentioning that piece of foolishness”.
Warner said: “I’ve never asked Triesman nor any other person, Englishman or otherwise, for any money for my vote at any time.
“In the English World Cup campaign, before he (Triesman) was unceremoniously kicked out, I’ve spoken to him on his initiative on only three occasions, while I have spoken to his other colleagues on other occasions and not one of his colleagues will ever corroborate his bit of trivia.
“I have been in FIFA for 29 years and this will astound many, I’m sure, including people like David Dein and Geoff Thompson.”
Thompson headed England’s 2018 bid and Dein was its international president.
Warner added: “This is the last I intend to say on this matter.”
No fewer than eight of the 24 members of FIFA’s executive committee have been accused of acting improperly, and in some cases receiving bribes, in relation to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
These are the allegations:
The Cameroonian head of the African football confederation CAF. Allegations published by the culture, media and sport committee name him as having received $1.5m (€1m) to vote for Qatar. Also named by BBC Panorama as having received 100,000 French francs from marketing company ISL - he claims the money was for CAF anniversary celebrations.
From the Ivory Coast and named as financial advisor and close advisor to the West African country’s deposed dictator Laurent Gbagbo, he is also alleged to have been the recipient of $1.5m (€1m) to vote for Qatar.
FIFA vice-president and head of Caribbean football. Alleged to have asked Lord Triesman and Sir Dave Richards for cash to build an education centre with the money to be channelled through him to ensure it was “appropriately spent”. Also alleged to have asked for £500,000 to buy World Cup TV rights for the earthquake-hit nation Haiti, also to go through him. It was also suggested he owned those TV rights.
Head of South American football from Paraguay, who asked Triesman for a knighthood to go along with his Legion D’Honneur and various other awards and honours. Triesman said: “I said it was completely impossible and we do not operate like that and he just shrugged and walked away”.
The FIFA member from Thailand wanted to be given the TV rights to a friendly between England and the Thai national team. “I said TV rights should go to the federation of the country staging the game; that was what he believed was the critical thing to making the arrangement a success,” said Triesman. The FA have since cancelled the friendly which had been planned for June.
Brazil’s football chief and head of the 2014 World Cup organising committee. In a conversation about Brazil’s president Lula, Teixeira told Triesman: “Lula is nothing – you come and tell me what you have for me.” Triesman told MPs he accepted the statement was ambiguous. Married to former FIFA president Joao Havelange’s daughter, he was also named by BBC’s Panorama as having received payments from collapsed TV rights marketing company ISL.
Nigerian FIFA member who was banned for three years by FIFA’s executive committee for soliciting World Cup bribes as part of the Sunday Times undercover investigation. Is challenging the ban with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
From Tahiti, the then head of the Oceania confederation was banned for one year for breaching FIFA rules following the Sunday Times investigation.
Lord Triesman named several FIFA members as being “completely incorruptible”. They were: Japan’s Junji Ogura, Korea’s Chung Mong-Joon, UEFA president Michel Platini and Turkey’s Senes Erzik. English FIFA vice-president Geoff Thompson’s behaviour is “always pristine” according to Triesman.
