FIFA denying involvement in bribery scandal

Swiss police are investigating FIFA President Sepp Blatter over his role in a secret deal to repay more than GBP 1 million worth of bribes pocketed by football officials, BBC Panorama revealed .

Panorama interviewed employees of the bankrupt ISL marketing company, who confirmed the company had paid bribes to FIFA officials over a period of nearly 20 years.

FIFA headquarters were raided by Investigating Magistrate Thomas Hildbrand last November and documents seized from the offices of President Blatter and his General Secretary, Urs Linsi.

Blatter refused to be interviewed by Panorama, but denied the allegations. Panorama was banned from FIFA press conferences for asking questions about corruption.

Swiss authorities will not discuss Hildbrand's investigation but Panorama discovered he was in court in mid-April obtaining an order to get at more documents.

The ISL company was set up in 1982 and acquired the marketing and television rights to the Olympic Games, the World athletics championships and the football World Cup.

Rumours circulated that senior sports officials took bribes in return for lucrative contracts.

ISL collapsed in 2001 and when the liquidator took over the company's bank records he found evidence of bribes.

Some officials repaid the money, but when others declined, the liquidator went to court. The result was a secret deal in early 2004 to repay more. Hildbrand is investigating the possibility that FIFA repaid the bribes, as opposed to the officials who took them.

ISL insiders told Panorama that bribes were paid through a secretive Liechtenstein foundation and an offshore bank account in the Caribbean

FIFA also denied allegations levelled by novelist Andrew Jennings relating to FIFA’s abuse of ISL. Jennings has written a book on the subject: "Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals."

In a statement, FIFA said: "There are specific allegations by the BBC programme Panorama that FIFA and its president take exception to, which does not mean that any of the other points raised are acceptable to FIFA, or true.

"As confirmed by the relevant authorities it is completely false and defamatory to claim that either the FIFA president or FIFA are the subject of a bribery probe by Swiss police.

"The fact is that FIFA is the victim of ISL's irregularities. FIFA looks forward to the final proceedings by the Swiss courts which it continues to support."

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.