This week, just days after calling
himself "the president of everybody" and alleging that the American
government's crackdown on FIFA corruption stemmed from resentment from the
U.S.'s failed 2022 World Cup bid, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced plans
to resign the post he has held for 17 years.
This news comes on the heels of last
week's bombshell dropped by the U.S. Department of Justice, which unsealed an
indictment calling for the arrest of 14 individuals connected to soccer's
governing body on racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering charges.
This week, the international police
force Interpol, based in France, joined the fight by issuing a "red
notice," which added six of the indicted individuals to its "Most
Wanted" list. Two have already been arrested in their home countries,
while the other four now risk arrest anywhere they travel in the world.
One of the men arrested was Jack
Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, a former FIFA vice president. Mr. Warner, who
faces a raft of charges, including racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and money
laundering, is accused of, among many other things, accepting a $10 million
bribe from the South African government in exchange for his vote for the
country to host the 2010 World Cup (which it ultimately did). Two of Mr.
Warner's sons, as well as his former Caribbean, North & Central American
soccer federation (CONCACAF) colleague Chuck Blazer, were previously arrested,
pleaded guilty, and are cooperating with American authorities.
While denying any personal wrongdoing,
Mr. Warner has now come forward and proclaimed that he has intimate knowledge
of the deep corruption running rampant throughout FIFA - and that he intends to
share it. In a seven minute paid political television advertisement entitled
"The Gloves Are Off," the embattled former executive revealed he had
a trove of evidence linking various FIFA officials, including Mr. Blatter, to a
slew of illicit payments and activities. "Blatter knows why he fell - and
if anyone else knows, I do," he said. Mr. Warner declared that he had
placed the files in "respected hands" - believed to be those of his
attorneys - and promised, "I will no longer keep secrets for them who now
seek to actively destroy the country which I love."
In his speech, Mr. Warner also said he
"reasonably and surely" feared for his life. However, despite this
fear, he vowed to continue naming names. At a rally shortly after his speech
was broadcast, he said, "Not even death will stop the avalanche that is
coming. The die is cast. There can be no turning back."
In addition to paraphrasing Julius
Caesar, the former executive also invoked Gandhi, proclaiming that throughout
history, tyrants always fall in the end.
Mr. Warner also curiously accused Mr.
Blatter of directly manipulating Trinidad's 2010 government election, for
reasons unknown.
by Chris Helsel
No comments:
Post a Comment