The position of "powerful" FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke is "likely to come under intense pressure after new evidence emerged" that showed he was aware of a $10M payment from South African officials to Jack Warner described by U.S. investigators as a bribe, according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. Just an hour after FIFA had released a statement "denying that Valcke authorised the transfer" of $10M to a Bank of America account linked to Warner, a letter from the South African FA was obtained by the PA that was addressed to Valcke. It showed he was "aware of it and contained detailed instructions for payment." FIFA's statement had said that neither Valcke, the "longtime closest ally and fixer" of FIFA President Sepp Blatter -- who announced his resignation on Tuesday -- nor the president himself "were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project." The payment is "at the heart" of the FIFA bribery scandal (GUARDIAN, 6/2). In London, Matt Hughes reported the $10M payment -- made in three wire transfers from FIFA-controlled
accounts between Jan. and March '08 -- formed a "key piece of the
indictment" that led to seven FIFA execs being arrested and corruption
charges brought against seven others.
U.S. prosecutors allege that a "high-ranking" FIFA official paid the money to Warner. The indictment does not say that the official "knew that the money was being
used as a bribe," and Valcke has not been identified as a co-conspirator (LONDON TIMES, 6/2). In N.Y., Rashbaum & Apuzzo reported SAFA President Danny Jordaan, the CEO of South Africa's World Cup bid, has said that the money "was not a bribe but a legitimate payment" into a football development fund in the Caribbean. Valcke, who said in a "brief email" that he "had not authorized the payment and did not have the power to do so," has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing. Valcke's statement that he did not authorize the wire transfer "does not directly address whether he was involved." The indictment said that the unidentified official "caused" the payments to be made. FIFA spokesperson Delia Fischer said that the chairman of the finance committee at the time, Julio Grondona, authorized the payment. Grondona died last year (N.Y. TIMES, 6/1).
THE SMOKING GUN: The letter, displayed below, from former SAFA President Molefi Oliphant to Valcke contained instructions for the payment.
OLIPHANT CONFIRMS: In London, Moore, England & Scannell reported the letter, which was shown on South African TV, was confirmed by its South African signatory, Oliphant. He said, "The copy is official. That is the copy, you have it, so you can draw any opinion you want to. That is the correct letter." FIFA said that the payment was "part of the legacy programme of the South Africa World Cup," to "support the African diasporas in Caribbean countries." There has not been "any mention of the project" in previous FIFA annual reports. The payment has become "the smoking gun in the ongoing investigation" of FIFA because it was "made directly" from FIFA's own bank accounts and was authorized by "a high-ranking" FIFA official (
FINANCIAL TIMES, 6/2).
'NOTHING TO SEE HERE' CULTURE: In London, David Conn wrote FIFA's "fantastically brief statement in response" to the $10M bribe-for-votes allegation, "finally drawn out of a
no comment stance, has now only detonated further explosive questions." FIFA's seven-sentence statement "purporting to explain away this huge,
profound allegation -- already the subject of criminal proceedings and
arrests -- only reinforces a sense that football’s world governing body
operates under Blatter a stance of oblivious disregard." The "desperate contradictions in this unbelievably brief instruction" about $10M are forming a "slow burning scandal in South Africa" but FIFA's statement suggests football's world governing body, "which preaches of the good it does through football all over the world, still sees no questions to ask about this affair" (GUARDIAN, 6/2).
ON THE AIR: CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin said of reports Valcke is connected to the $10M bribe, "This story keeps getting worse and worse I feel like" ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 6/2). Kirmser Ponturo Group LLC partner Tony Ponturo said FIFA is "like a secret society club" and it is "how they do business that has to change, whoever it is at the top" ("Countdown to the Closing Bell," Fox Business, 6/1).
