Governing Bodies
BREAKING: US GOVT ACCUSES RUSSIA, QATAR OF WORLD CUP BRIBES
After years of investigations and charges, the US Department of Justice on Monday said for the first time that representatives working for Russia and Qatar had bribed top officials to secure hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup respectively.
Prosecutors made the accusations in charging three media executives – former Fox executives Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez – and Gerard Romy, the former co-chief executive of Spanish media company Imagina Media.
Full Play Group, a Uruguayan sports marketing company, was also charged.
The crimes include wire fraud and money laundering in connection with bribes to secure TV and marketing rights for international football tournaments.
The accusations were the latest in a protracted corruption case that has already produced convictions of numerous football officials and executives, as well as depositions from former leaders of Fifa.
Never before, though, have prosecutors so clearly described the scheme that helped deliver the votes that gave Russia and Qatar hosting rights for the sport’s biggest event.
Prosecutors explicitly revealed details about money paid to five members of governing body Fifa’s top board ahead of the 2010 vote to choose Russia and Qatar as hosts.
Russia defeated England and joint bids from the Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal to host the 2018 tournament, while Qatar defeated the United States in a run-off by a group of voters that had already been trimmed because two members had been secretly filmed agreeing to sell their votes.
Three South American officials, according to the indictment, received payments to vote for Qatar.
One of them, former Argentinian Football Association president Julio Grondona, died in 2014. Former South American football chief Nicolas Leoz died in Paraguay last year while under house arrest and fighting extradition to the United States.
The third man, Ricardo Teixeira, the former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, is still in Brazil, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
Prosecutors also stated that former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, who has been fighting extradition to the US since 2015, received US$5 million (S$7.1 million) through a string of shell companies to vote for Russia.
Some of the money came “from companies based in the United States that performed work on behalf of the 2018 World Cup bid”.
More than half the people involved in the votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, including former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, have been accused of wrongdoing, though not necessarily criminally charged.
NYTIMES
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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