Fifa World Cup 2018 votes scandal takes new twist
Fifa’s damage-limitations team were back in business on Sunday after the “cash for votes” scandal was back at the top of the news agenda with fresh allegations.
Like all good undercover operations the Sunday Times were back for a second round, this time with a another former high-level Fifa official under the microscope.
This time it was the turn of Michel Zen-Ruffinen, the former Fifa general secretary, who was filmed by reporters allegedly offering himself as a fixer who would be available to assist any football association trying to secure the right to stage the 2018 – at a cost of £210,000 for his services.
In a bidding contest that has rapidly become mired in sleaze and scandal, with England appearing to be in pole position with their package, Zen-Ruffinen, is said to have put forward a proposed list of sweeteners that would be required from any bidding country looking to gain the support of certain members of Fifa’s executive committee prior to the final vote on the matter, which takes place in Zurich on December 2nd.
According to the report Zen-Ruffinen suggested that the means to gain a favourable outcome was the offer of money to some, another would be more “the guy you can have with ladies and not money” while a third was described as “the biggest gangster you will find on earth”.
The latest new claims will simply turn the s***w further on Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president. In May the 74-year-old plans to stand for re-election to his post as the supreme power in world football. At present there is no other candidate expected to oppose him but such adverse publicity could still undermine his credibility and, perhaps with that in mind, Fifa launched investigate the issue of vote buying after the first raft of allegations last week.
That inquiry centres, by Fifa’s ethics committee, centres on alleged corruption by two of its executive committee members, Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii, four other officials and, in a parallel investigation, alleged collusion between bidding nations on vote-swapping for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Zen-Ruffinen, a one-time protégé of Blatter until a falling out, also suggested that the joint bid of Spain and Portugal to host the World Cup had brokered a deal with Qatar to exchange votes, which will have implications for England's 2018 bid, although Qatar have refuted all such allegations.
Zen-Ruffinen is reported to have said: "People expect a battle between Russia and England but they are very much disturbed by the alliance with Qatar, because if Spain start with seven, which nobody was expecting ... that's a real alliance. It's bound, tacked with a nice ribbon and that's really problematic. This is the most problematic thing. And I was informed about it last week. And this is not just a rumour. That's a fact."
When challenged about his remarks Zen-Ruffinen apparently said later that he had only been recounting "well-known rumours."
Separating the “facts” form the “rumours” could take some time yet.
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