FIFA blocks $20m cash grants to Americas confederations in new scandal twist
ZURICH: FIFA has blocked $20m in funding to the South American confederation CONMEBOL and the central and North American body CONCACAF in the latest fall-out from the FIFAGate corruption scandal.
The two bodies are currently reorganising and world football’s governing body has decided that it cannot release payments at present.
“In light of current proceedings involving individuals related to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, FIFA put contributions towards these two confederations on hold until further notice,” it said in a statement reported by the Bloomberg news agency. “We are currently assessing further steps to be taken to increase the level of assurance which may again enable FIFA to release such funds in the future.”
Paraguayan federationc president Alejandro Dominguez was last week elected as the new CONMEBOL leader . Last December, predecessor Juan Angel Napout was one of 16 people charged in connection with multimillion-dollar bribery schemes for marketing and broadcasting rights of tournaments and matches.
The last three presidents are now under arrest in connection with the scandal, with Paraguay’s Napout joining former presidents Nicolas Leoz, also of Paraguay, and Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay.
In all, the DoJ’s probe has led to charges against 39 people for crimes including racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud. Most of them are officials or sports marketing executives from the two confederations.
In December, CONCACAF opted not to appoint an interim president, with its three previous leaders also indicted in the FIFA bribery case. Interim president Alfredo Hawit was among the latest raft of charges from the DoJ. Previous presidents Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands and Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago were charged in a first indictment published in May.
CONCACAF said: “CONCACAF has fulfilled all of FIFA’s requests for documents and information regarding the new administrative, compliance, and procurement processes that have been implemented at the confederation to ensure the issue is resolved in a timely manner.”
In a letter to members on January 5, CONCACAF warned member FAs said it had not received $10m in FIFA funds and was trying to organise the group’s finances.
After Webb and other officials were arrested in May, Concacaf wasn’t able to access $9m in a Cayman Islands bank account for several months and struggled to find a new bank. The crisis has led to the body stopping annual stipends to its 41 member nations and cancelling all of its committee meetings until further notice.
CONCACAF expected to have operating reserves of $28m for the year ended December 31, 2015. It added: “The confederation was operating with approximately $2m in available cash – an extremely precarious situation. While our internal investigation is ongoing much of the financial situation was the result of poor budgeting and excessive spending by the prior administration.”
#############
