Blatter asks committee to stay silent
Reuters - Sunday 17 October 2010, 17:05
LONDON - FIFA president Sepp Blatter
appealed to his executive committee members to stay silent as he
launched an immediate investigation into alleged vote-selling
ahead of the decision on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.
Blatter took the unusual step of issuing an open letter to
members of the executive committee on Sunday, telling them a
report in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper had created a "very
negative impact" on football's governing body.
The report said Nigeria's Amos Adamu had been filmed asking
for money for a personal project and that Oceania Football
Confederation president Reynald Temarii from Tahiti wanted money
for a sports academy.
FIFA is due to announce on December 2 in Zurich which countries
will host the two World Cups with the 24-strong executive
committee deciding both venues on a majority vote.
"I am sorry to have to inform you of a very unpleasant
situation which has developed in relation to an article
published today in the Sunday Times, entitled 'World Cup votes
for sale'," Blatter wrote at www.fifa.com.
"The information in the article has created a very negative
impact on FIFA and on the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022
World Cups."
He added: "I will keep you duly informed of any further
developments. In the meantime, I would like to ask you to
refrain from making any public comments on this matter."
That request came after Chuck Blazer, the United States
representative on the executive committee, told Reuters that the
decision on hosts for the next two World Cups was unlikely to be
delayed.
"The Ethics Committee will address these issues directly and
it should not take them very long to ascertain all the facts,"
Blazer, speaking in a telephone interview from New York, told
Reuters.
"The date of December 2 was chosen specifically ahead of the
'political season' of congresses and elections, and I see no
reason why this would be delayed."
The investigation comes after the Sunday Times said its
reporters, working undercover, posed as lobbyists for a
consortium of American private companies.
VOTING PROCEDURE
Blazer told Reuters: "I cannot comment on these cases
individually of course, but what I will say is up to now I have
met with five different bidding committees and in some cases
visited their countries - England, Russia, Belgium/Holland,
Japan and the United States.
"All the bidders I have met have been totally professional
in their presentations, not alluding to any other types of
benefits and I think that needs to be said.
"They were simply trying to offer the best World Cup
proposals.
"I don't think people should get the wrong impression of the
FIFA process either. On the contrary, it was not as if
journalists have been monitoring a bid that seemed dubious in
any way, but they have created a scam, a trap.
"However, it is up to FIFA individuals to be vigilant at all
times.
"I do not think there is anything wrong with the voting
procedure. We have come to expect it to be carried out morally
and ethically based on good judgement and on what has been
presented by a bidding committee.
"By having a small body decide where the World Cup will be
held, you also can identify the people responsible for choosing
the World Cup venue - the executive committee - because they
are the same people responsible for making it work."
The decision will be made by the 24-man executive committee,
although a source close to the executive, who asked not to be
named, said both Adamu and Temarii could find themselves
suspended or off the committee by then if the claims against
them were substantiated.
"FIFA will not allow anyone or anything to damage the
reputation of the voting procedure and it could be that 22 men
might make the decision, not 24," the source said.
England and Russia are bidding for the 2018 finals along
with joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.
The candidates for 2022 are the United States, Japan, South
Korea, Qatar and Australia.