Sunday, October 17, 2010

Decision on World Cup 2018 bid delayed by bribery claims


The decision on who will host the 2018 World Cup could be postponed after claims that two top officials offered to sell their votes.
Amos Adamu, a Fifa executive committee member, is alleged to have offered his vote to the United States in exchange for £500,000.

The Nigerian official told an undercover reporter he wanted the money to build four artificial pitches.
A second executive committee member, Tahiti's Reynald Temarii, is also reported to have offered his vote for around £1.5million. 
He allegedly told reporters he wanted money so he could help finance a sports academy in New Zealand.
The revelations of corruption at the highest level of football's governing body sent shockwaves through the sport yesterday and prompted an immediate investigation by Fifa.
And last night it was considering postponing the December 2 decision-on who will host the billion-pound competition.
Yesterday Foreign Secretary William Hague said: 'These are serious allegations. Of course we want all the proceedings in the World Cup bid to be carried out in a way that is ethically correct.
'We're very disturbed by those allegations.' The claims come just days after David Cameron welcomed Fifa president Sepp Blatter to Downing Street to discuss England's bid to host the tournament.
In the undercover operation by the Sunday Times, reporters posed as lobbyists for an American consortium of private businesses keen to secure votes for the U.S. bid.
To win the contest to stage the lucrative competition, bidders need to gain a majority of votes from the 24-man Fifa executive committee.
The undercover reporters say they sought advice from former senior Fifa officials and were told the only way to guarantee votes from the executive committee was to offer bribes to specific members.
In video footage obtained by the newspaper, Adamu, who is president of the West African Football Union, is seen telling reporters he wanted $800,000 (£500,000) paid directly to him so he could build football pitches in Nigeria.
He was asked whether the money for a 'private project' would have an effect on the way he voted.
He replied: 'Obviously, it will have an effect. Of course it will. Because certainly if you are to invest in that, that means you also want the vote.'
Temarii, president of the Oceania Football Confederation, is also alleged to have asked for a payment. 
According to the Sunday Times,Temarii was offered money for a sports project in return for his vote in favour of the U.S. bid.
Temarii allegedly responded: 'Your proposal, for sure, it's interesting. For me I just tell you that when the people come to see me I usually say: "Okay, what will be the impact of your bid in my region?"'
He went on to say he was looking for $NZ3m (£1.5m) to build a sports academy in Auckland.
The U.S. pulled out of the race on Friday, saying it wanted to focus on bidding for the 2022 tournament.
The reporters involved in the story emphasised they had no links to the U.S. bid and they had no evidence of wrongdoing on behalf of the U.S. committee's campaign.
England is one of four bids still in the running for the 2018 World Cup, alongside Russia and joint bids from Belgium and Holland and Spain and Portugal.
When confronted about their comments, Adamu insisted: 'My vote is not for sale.' Temarii explained his door was always open to those who wished to invest in his region.

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