In what’s been described as the largest scandal in modern sports
history, nine high-ranking soccer officials, including two current vice
presidents of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA,
were indicted along with five sports marketing executives on federal
corruption charges by the U.S. Justice Department. Among those arrested
in connection with the probe is Jack Warner, former vice president of FIFA,
who is accused of taking a $10 million bribe to cast his ballot for
South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. Despite the arrests, FIFA is holding an election today to pick the next president of the organization. FIFA
President Sepp Blatter is seeking re-election for the post he has held
since 1998. Many commentators have predicted he will be re-elected,
though some nations, including the United States, have vowed to vote
against him. We speak to sportswriter Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff,
former professional soccer player who represented the U.S. Olympic
soccer team.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH:
We turn now to what some have described as the largest scandal in
modern sports history. Earlier this week, nine high-ranking soccer
officials, including two current vice presidents of soccer’s world
governing body, FIFA, were indicted along with
five sports marketing executives on federal corruption charges by the
U.S. Justice Department. Early on Wednesday, Swiss authorities made a
series of arrests at a five-star hotel at the request of the the U.S.
authorities.AMY GOODMAN: Among those arrested in connection with the probe is Jack Warner, former vice president of FIFA, who is accused of taking a $10 million bribe to cast his ballot for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the corruption dates back to at least 1991.
ATTORNEY GENERAL LORETTA LYNCH: The 14 defendants charged in the indictment we are unsealing today include high-ranking officials of FIFA, the international organization responsible for regulating and promoting soccer, leaders of regional and other governing bodies under the FIFA umbrella and sports marketing executives who, according to the indictment, paid millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments. The 47-count indictment against these individuals includes charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies spanning two decades.AMY GOODMAN: On Thursday, the chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation [unit], Richard Weber, described the corruption within FIFA.
RICHARD WEBER: As the best financial investigators in the world, IRS-CI special agents exposed complex money-laundering schemes, uncovered millions of dollars in untaxed income, and discovered tens of millions of dollars hidden away in offshore accounts in countries like Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. This really is the World Cup of fraud. And today we are issuing FIFA a red card.
