At 84, Sepp Blatter remains a formidable communicator. On Wednesday April 15, the former Swiss president of the International Football Federation (FIFA) suggested in the German magazine Bild, that the United States could organize the 2022 World Cup in place of Qatar, " instead (to organize) 2026 edition. " The country was beaten at the polls (14 votes to 8) by the emirate in the tournament’s attribution vote in December 2010.
Blatter's statement comes as the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) accused FIFA leaders for the first time of receiving bribes to vote for Russia and the government. Qatar, host country of the 2018 and 2022 Worlds. In an indictment published on April 6, the Brooklyn federal prosecutor believes – without specifying the source of the funds – that the Brazilian Ricardo Teixeira, the Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz and the Argentinian Julio Grondona were corrupted to bring their suffrage to the emirate. Qatar denied "Firmly the allegations contained in these documents".
In addition, the American authorities accuse the Trinidadian Jack Warner of having collected 5 million dollars to vote for Russia and evoke an intermediary described as "A close adviser to the President of FIFA", namely… Sepp Blatter. These new elements seem to have pushed the octogenarian to speak and thus put under pressure his successor, Gianni Infantino, with whom he is in open conflict, and FIFA.
"A very severe call to order from the United States"
Five years after the anti-corruption snip launched in May 2015 by the American justice system, at the Baur hotel on Lake Zurich, which led him to abdicate, Mr. Blatter does not take this lightly "A very severe call to order from the United States". "Qatar has become the protégé of the current FIFA president, he says to World. Gianni must be sleeping badly at the moment. "
Does he suggest that American justice could, in the coming months, force FIFA to question the awarding of the 2022 World Cup for corruption offenses? Blatter is careful to remember that it was he who prompted the Emir of Qatar to be a candidate in 2008 for the tournament. VSas if anticipating future grievances from New York, the Swiss prides itself on having "Defended the United States until the end, discussed with Obama the day before the election" and "Always had a strategy of having a plan B".
According to one of his former relatives, the ex-president of FIFA has already raised before the leaders of Coca-Cola, one of the sponsors of the federation, before the Brazilian World Cup in 2014, the possibility of withdrawing from Qatar the organization of the 2022 World Cup, "Opportunistically" and without actually looking for a plan B.
Blatter is also said to have raised the issue of replacing the emirate when he met in 2012 with Australian-Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Fox television group. “I don't remember the content of this interview with Mr. Murdoch. It would have been too early to speak already of the 2022 World Cup in 2012 but… the memory ”said Mr. Blatter.
"I hope with all my heart that it is calm before the storm", Australian businessman Jaimie Fuller, co-founder of the lobby group New FIFA Now, said about the DoJ’s indictment. "The DoJ has always had the 2018 and 2022 Worlds in its sights and it took time to gather elements", adds a fine observer for FIFA.
FIFA recalls "victim status"
In November 2014, US officials welcomed the findings of the FIFA internal investigation into the controversial two-world championship with skepticism. German Hans-Joachim Eckert, co-chair of the federation’s ethics committee, believed that behavior "Doubtful" could not be classified as bribery and were not "Not likely to compromise the integrity of the award process" 2018 and 2022 Worlds.
Mr. Eckert had produced a summary of an investigation report made by the former American prosecutor Michael Garcia, long kept secret, then published by FIFA in 2017. In December 2014, Mr. Garcia had slammed the door of the FIFA, contesting "Incomplete and incorrect reading" made of his report by Mr. Eckert.
"In his report, Mr. Garcia said that there was no evidence of embezzlement. He had the support of the United States, his wife works at the CIA, so if he had been able to obtain things, he would have put them in his report, observes Mr. Blatter. I have no doubt that he did a thorough job. "
After the DoJ indictment was issued, FIFA recalled its "Victim status" within the framework of the procedures opened by the American authorities. After the legal tornado of 2015, the case had entrusted the defense of its interests to the California law firm Quinn Emanuel. The mission of this cabinet completed, is FIFA more vulnerable in this sensitive context, as several sources suggest?
The announcements of the American justice intervene whereas the Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber is weakened. The latter, who was supposed to assist the United States in FIFA-related proceedings since 2015, was removed from these investigations by the Federal Criminal Court and sanctioned by the Supervisory Authority of the Swiss Public Prosecutor's Office because of from his informal meetings, in 2016 and 2017, with Gianni Infantino.
French justice is closely monitoring the new twists and turns of the case in the United States. In November 2019, after more than three years of preliminary investigation into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 Worlds, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office opened a judicial investigation for "Private bribery", " conspiracy ", "Influence peddling and concealing influence peddling".
