- Title: SOCCER-FIFA/CONGRESS Senate hears testimony on FIFA corruption
- Date: 15th July 2015
- Summary: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES. (JULY 15, 2015)(UNRESTRICTED POOL) WIDE OF SENATE HEARING (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR JERRY MORAN, REPUBLICAN CHAIR OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION COMMITTEE SAYING "The goal of this hearing is to have a serious and meaningful conversation about how to address FIFA's culture of corruption, the United States' participation in the organization
- Embargoed: 30th July 2015 13:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA7UHCZRLS6AAJFG7ZFRYRZ8ZQW
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- Story Text: U.S. senators on Wednesday (July 15) called for extensive reforms in the way soccer is run by both international and U.S. governing bodies, and questioned what current U.S. soccer chiefs knew about corruption in the global organization FIFA.
Republican chairman Senator Jerry Moran opened the hearing.
"The goal of this hearing is to have a serious and meaningful conversation about how to address FIFA's culture of corruption, the United States' participation in the organization, and the human rights violations stemming from the organization's lapses in integrity."
"The facts show there had to be either wilful ignorance or blatant incompetence on behalf of many of the members of this organization - that's true of U.S. soccer as well," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate commerce subcommittee at a hearing it held on Wednesday to examine alleged corruption in FIFA and related soccer bodies.
There has been "a mafia-style crime syndicate in charge of this sport," said Blumenthal. He said that was "almost insulting to the Mafia ... because the Mafia would never have been so blatant, overt and arrogant in its corruption."
"I want to know what reforms U.S. Soccer Federation is planning to introduce ... what and when... clearly there is an urgent need for such reforms," he added.
Former U.S. soccer official Chuck Blazer, who was a FIFA executive committee member for 17 years, has been at the center of the corruption scandal. He has pleaded guilty to a series of offences related to bribery and is cooperating with authorities.
In late May, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York indicted nine soccer officials, most of whom held FIFA positions or had previously held such positions, and five sports media and promotions executives in schemes involving $150 million in bribes over a period of 24 years. Prosecutors said their investigation exposed complex money laundering schemes, millions of dollars in untaxed income and tens of millions of dollars in offshore accounts held by the soccer officials.
"Many of these crimes were committed in the United States, which is especially disturbing," Blumenthal said.
Moran said that given that FIFA president Sepp Blatter has announced his intention to resign, "Now is the time for the United States and U.S. Soccer Federation to engage and determine how we can encourage meaningful reforms."
British investigative journalist and filmmaker Andrew Jennings, who has written extensively on alleged corruption at FIFA and related soccer bodies for many years, said that U.S. Soccer chiefs "had to know" about the involvement of Blazer and Jack Warner in corrupt activities and tax evasion.
The hearing was something of a victory lap for Jennings who has built a career reporting on the sorted backroom deals of international sport. He did not hold back in Wednesday's hearing.
"We're here to discuss how American soccer relates to FIFA. I note the absence of your FIFA delegate Mr Sunil Gulati. That's one crucial question today. Where's Sunil? Where is he? He's the man who takes American values, supposedly, to FIFA and to CONCACAF and he''s not here to talk about it. It rather undermines the whole process I think," Jennings said putting U.S. Soccer Federation CEO Dan Flynn immediately on the defensive.
Senators followed Jennings lead and questioned why the top U.S. Soccer Federation official, President Sunil Gulati, had not agreed to testify at the hearing. Flynn said that the Soccer Federation decided, in consultation with outside counsel, that Gulati would not appear at the hearing and that Flynn would be the organization's representative because he "had more knowledge of the day to day events."
Flynn, told the subcommittee he "knew nothing" about corruption in soccer, and said that Blazer had not been involved with U.S. Soccer since 1986. He said before the indictments he was unaware that the U.S. Justice Department was conducting an investigation into alleged soccer corruption.
Flynn said that some time earlier - longer than a few months but shorter than a few years - he had begun to experience "discomfort" at some of what he saw going on in the game's governing bodies.
He said that his discomfort was a "general feeling" about possible problems in how the game was run. When the discomfort became too troubling, Flynn said, he would "not participate" in related soccer activities. He did not specify what kind of soccer activities he shunned. He also defended his organizations fight against corruption.
"We did support the 2011 ethics committee report as I mentioned in my opening remarks. We pushed for disclosure of the full report. As I said we were front and center one of six nations that nominated Prince Ali to run against the long-standing Mr Sepp Blatter with great peril for the chance of hosting in 2026 and having the FIFA Executive Committee seat we continue to feel that is a proper course of action to reform FIFA," Flynn said.
Prominent labour union and human rights groups on Wednesday stepped up public pressure on FIFA to agree to be reformed and clean up its act through an independent process. Amnesty International representative Sunjeev Bery detailed the plight of foreign workers in Qatar, who are helping build venues for the 2022 World Cup.
"In the most extreme examples, foreign migrant workers in Qatar have become suicidal after being trapped without pay by employers. They have been forced to rely on charity from others simply to eat. Meanwhile their family members in their countries of origin can face eviction and other serious challenges because a family member is trapped in Qatar and not being paid for work being done," Bery said.
Later in the hearing, Jennings took a humorous swing at FIFA's decision to send the World Cup to Qatar.
"If you want to die young, come and stand outside Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton, all the big clubs and as the fans come out say 'Hey, we're going to stop you from having football for 7 weeks because Jack Warner took the money.' I hope it's a painless death."
Warner, from Trinidad and Tobago, was previously the head of CONCACAF, the regional soccer organization for North and Central America and the Caribbean. He is among those indicted on bribery-related offences. Warner has consistently denied wrongdoing and is fighting an attempt to extradite him from Trinidad to the U.S. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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