Two whistleblowers who provided "significant assistance to Michael Garcia’s investigation into alleged corruption in the bid process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups have voiced their respective ‘rage’ and disappointment at how their evidence was portrayed," according to Nick Harris of the London DAILY MAIL. Bonita Mersiades, a former Australia bid insider, and Phaedra Almajid, who worked on the Qatar 2022 campaign, said that the summary by FIFA's ethics judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert, is a "deliberate denigration of two women who have been courageous enough to say something." Eckert said their evidence was "unreliable and inaccurate." But they "scoffed at the notion the bid process was uncorrupted." Almajid: "When it comes to FIFA, be prepared to be crucified, not once or twice but over and over again. Be prepared to suffer and pay for your actions. Be prepared never to feel safe and never to feel you can trust anyone. But most importantly, be ready to be betrayed by those who have promised to protect you." Both women provided Garcia with "detailed knowledge of the bids they worked on." Their information was "fundamental to Garcia concluding there were indications of 'problematic conduct' by both bids." Mersiades is "not surprised that Eckert effectively gave the whole process a clean bill of health despite its multiple obvious flaws." She said the fact that she and Almajid were "singled out for specific mention, though not named by Eckert, shows that at FIFA 'the culture of silence is rewarded.'" Mersiades was the "head of corporate and public affairs within the Australian bid" and had access to all areas of the bid. She said that Eckert’s conclusion that the bid process was "essentially clean is 'high comedy.'" Almajid was "one of the first employees of Qatar's bid, five years ago." She said, "My initial reaction to the way I was singled out in Eckert’s summary was shock, then rage. Knowing FIFA, I should not have been surprised." Mersiades told Garcia how "financial incentives were sought for projects" controlled by FIFA exec committee voters -- and paid by Australia's bid. She also explained how the cover of "football development" was "used as a euphemism for funding directed towards favoured projects of ExCo voters" (DAILY MAIL, 11/16).
FIFA URGED TO COME CLEAN: In London, Alex Barker reported EU Commissioner for Sports Tibor Navracsics is urging FIFA to "come clean with findings from its corruption investigation, in a warning that signals a Brussels rethink over the commercial freedoms enjoyed by football’s scandal-tarnished governing body." In a "direct swipe" at FIFA's attempt to "clear Russia and Qatar to run the next two World Cups," Navracsics has "called for full publication of a graft report into the 2010 bidding process to 'remove doubts' about its findings." While FIFA President Sepp Blatter's body is an "unregulated Swiss body independent from government, its lucrative business activities in the European market are subject to rules overseen by EU regulators." Navracsics: "While I do not challenge the autonomy of sports organizations, I believe it’s time for FIFA to put all its cards on the table in order to remove doubts about the report’s findings" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/14). ARABIAN BUSINESS' Courtney Trenwith reported German Football League (DFL) President Reinhard Rauball warned that 54 members of the European league "could quit FIFA if it does not publish in full a report on the World Cup bidding processes by Qatar and Russia." Rauball said that FIFA had a "complete loss of credibility," adding that UEFA "would have to consider leaving FIFA if it was not transparent on corruption allegations relating to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids." The decision has "caused significant tensions between FIFA members and the body’s executive." Rauball: "The result was a breakdown in communication, and it has shaken the foundations of FIFA in a way I’ve never experienced before" (ARABIAN BUSINESS, 11/16). The LONDON TIMES reported former U.K. Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said that the team that "tried unsuccessfully to bring the World Cup to England" in '18 regarded FIFA's bidding process for the tournament as a "Wild West" system which "encouraged inappropriate behaviour from would-be hosts." Robertson, who was appointed as sport minister in the months "leading up to the decision" to award the World Cup to Russia and Qatar in Dec. '10, said it "very quickly became clear to him that the process was flawed." Robertson: "The problem here is that the FIFA rules were not at all clear. I asked the question when I became sports minister about what we were and were not allowed to do, and one of [the England 2018 bid team] said, and I quote exactly: 'There are no rules, it is a Wild West of a bidding process'" (LONDON TIMES, 11/16).
FURTHER UNDERMINED: In London, Ben Rumsby reported FIFA's probe was "further undermined on Saturday night after the governing body was accused of approving the very rule violations for which England’s 2018 bid was condemned." A summary of the corruption probe found that England had "violated bidding rules" and damaged "the image of Fifa and the bidding process" in its attempt to win votes. It was "particularly scathing of its courting of disgraced" former FIFA VP Jack Warner, who convinced it to pay for a £35,000 gala dinner for Caribbean Football Union officials. England 2018 COO Simon Johnson, who had branded the summary a "politically motivated whitewash," said, "We were fully aware of the rules of the code of ethics. Where there
was a bid activity that we felt raised questions, we would have that
activity pre-approved by FIFA using the official email address it
provided for these purposes. It is my recollection that the CFU dinner
was approved in this way" (TELEGRAPH, 11/15).
