Asia backs embattled Blatter and endorses FIFA election

Friday, 29 May 2015 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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FIFA president Sepp Blatter wears headphones during a joint news conference with Ofer Eini (not pictured), chairman of the Israel Football Association, in Jerusalem – REUTERS

Melbourne (Reuters): The Asian Football Confederation has re-affirmed its support for embattled FIFA boss Sepp Blatter and pushed for Friday’s presidential election to go ahead despite the corruption scandal that has rocked soccer’s global governing body.

The AFC, which represents 47 member nations, has been a staunch ally of the 79-year-old Swiss and the bloc’s support will be vital for his hopes of clinging to the presidency for a fifth term.

“The Asian Football Confederation expresses its disappointment and sadness at Wednesday’s events in Zurich whilst opposing any delay in the FIFA Presidential elections to take place on Friday May 29 in Zurich,” the AFC said in a statement posted on its website (the-afc.com) on Thursday.

“Furthermore, the AFC reiterates its decision taken at the AFC Congress in Sao Paulo in 2014, endorsed at subsequent Congresses in Melbourne and Manama in 2015, to support FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.”

FIFA has been thrown into renewed crisis with the arrests of seven of the governing body’s most powerful officials in Switzerland on Wednesday over corruption allegations.

They are now awaiting extradition to the United States where authorities have said nine soccer officials and five sports and promotions executives face corruption charges involving more than $150 million in bribes.

US prosecutors said they aimed to make more arrests but would not be drawn on whether Blatter, for long the most powerful man in the sport, was a target of the probe.

The European soccer body UEFA called for the election, which pits Blatter against Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, to be postponed but FIFA is determined it will go ahead.

Though the U.S. probe’s indictments have targeted soccer officials in the Caribbean and central America, Swiss authorities have also announced their own criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

The awarding of the 2022 tournament to Qatar, a tiny desert country with no domestic tradition of soccer, proved controversial, with subsequent corruption allegations embroiling former AFC President Mohammed Bin Hammam.

The Qatari, a former member of FIFA’s all-powerful executive committee, was to oppose Blatter at the last presidential election in 2011 but was banned for life after an investigation by the governing body’s ethics committee.

Bin Hammam and Qatari’s bid team have consistently denied any wrongdoing, but accusations of impropriety continue to rock the sprawling continent.

The AFC suspended its general secretary Alex Soosay earlier this month after a Malaysian newspaper reported Soosay had asked another official to hide some documents during a corruption probe.

“The AFC is against any form of corruption in football and fully supports any actions taken by the independent FIFA Ethics Committee where wrongdoing may have occurred, whether such actions affect Asian officials or otherwise,” the AFC said.

“The AFC is still undergoing its own process of reform and has taken many concrete steps in the last two years to improve governance in the Confederation, whilst recognising that there is still much work to do.”

Though the AFC’s top brass have declared Asia will vote for Blatter as a bloc, other officials at a January congress in Melbourne would not rule out some dissent.

“It’s a free vote and the declaration by the president of the AFC, Sheikh Salman, that Asia will vote as a bloc for Blatter is arrogant in the extreme and disrespectful of his own membership,” Australian Les Murray, a former member of FIFA’s ethics committee wrote in his blog on local broadcaster SBS’s website (theworldgame.sbs.com.au).

UEFA members to back Jordan’s Prince Ali as FIFA president

A majority of UEFA’s member associations will vote for Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein to succeed Sepp Blatter as the next FIFA president, UEFA President Michel Platini said on Thursday. BUP_DFT_DFT-24_02-39

“A large majority of the European associations will all vote for Prince Ali,” Platini told a news conference in Zurich, a day after several senior FIFA officials were arrested on U.S. corruption charges.

Platini said that during Thursday morning’s emergency meeting at FIFA, he told Blatter to step down in light of the scandal that has engulfed the world soccer body.

“I said, I’m asking you to leave, FIFA’s image is terrible. He said that he couldn’t leave all of a sudden.”

Platini added: “I’m saying this with sadness and tears in my eyes, but there have been too many scandals, FIFA doesn’t deserve to be treated that way.

Visa threatens to ditch FIFA as sponsor dismay mounts

Visa Inc has told FIFA it could end its sponsorship of soccer’s world governing body if it does not act fast to restore the reputation of the game after senior officials were arrested on bribery and corruption charges.

The statement from Visa, which became a FIFA partner in 2007 and recently extended the relationship until 2022, was the strongest so far as sponsors lined up to express concern about the scandal engulfing the world’s most popular sport.

“Our disappointment and concern with FIFA in light of today’s developments is profound. As a sponsor, we expect FIFA to take swift and immediate steps to address these issues within its organisation,” the world’s largest credit and debit card company said.

“This starts with rebuilding a culture with strong ethical practices,” it said. “Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship.”

US prosecutors issued an indictment on Wednesday accusing nine officials from soccer’s world governing body and five sports media and promotions executives of bribes involving more than $150 million over 24 years.

The indictment also said that in 1996, a global sports company, which was not identified in court documents, agreed to pay $160 million over 10 years to become the Brazil team’s exclusive footwear, apparel, accessories and equipment supplier. That was an apparent reference to Nike Inc, which sponsors the Brazil national team.

Nike said it was cooperating with authorities.

The indictment said the company agreed to financial terms not in the initial contract, which included paying an additional $40 million in “marketing fees” to an affiliate of the team’s marketing agent with a Swiss bank account.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch declined to comment on whether there was any liability for companies that had won marketing rights and if they were being investigated. But she said “the investigation is continuing and covers all aspects.”

She declined to comment when asked if one of the companies was Nike.

Nike later said in a statement: “Like fans everywhere, we care passionately about the game and are concerned by the very serious allegations.”

“Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery. We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities,” the company said.

German sportswear company Adidas and beverage company Coca-Cola Co called on FIFA to increase transparency and resolve the controversy.

“This lengthy controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations,” Coca Cola said.

FIFA’s main sponsors were already getting uneasy even before the latest revelations.

Adidas, Visa and Coca-Cola all made statements last week pushing FIFA to take seriously the issue of rights for migrant workers in Qatar, responding to reports of human rights abuses at the 2022 World Cup construction sites.

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor, the sole Asian FIFA partner for the 2018 World Cup due to be held in Russia, said it was “extremely concerned” about the legal proceedings against FIFA executives.

Anheuser-Busch InBev and McDonald’s Corp said they were in contact with FIFA and were monitoring the situation.

FIFA’s public accounts shows it received a total of $177 million in 2014 from its long-term partners - Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates airline, Hyundai, Sony and Visa - and $131 million from sponsors of the World Cup.

“The value of the sponsorships is very high or they wouldn’t be prepared to pay so much for it,” said Interbrand Chief Executive Jez Frampton. “Football is one of the few global properties that enables you to connect with people around the world.”