FIFA President Sepp Blatter has indicated there has been "no change of heart in his decision to step down as FIFA president," according to Martyn Ziegler of the PA. Blatter's former election advisor Klaus Stöhlker claimed it remains "open" for the 79-year-old to run again "if a convincing candidate does not emerge." But a FIFA spokesperson said that Stöhlker was "no longer employed by Blatter" and the FIFA president pointed to his statement on June 2, when he announced he would step down between December and February. FIFA Audit & Compliance Committee Independent Chair Domenico Scala has urged Blatter to "stick with his plans to resign." Meanwhile, Switzerland Attorney General Michael Lauber will make a statement on Wednesday about his "investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups." He is expected to detail the "scope of the investigation as well as the time-scale and resources that will be used" in the "criminal proceedings" (PA, 6/15).
MOROCCO DENIES ALLEGATIONS: REUTERS' Aziz El Yaakoubi reported the Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) denied on Sunday allegations that the country "had paid a
bribe" to a FIFA exec during its unsuccessful bid to host the 1998
World Cup. France hosted the 1998 World Cup, but U.S. court documents contain prosecutors' allegations that "bidding nation Morocco had paid a bribe" to former FIFA VP Jack Warner of Trinidad & Tobago. The FRMF said in a statement, "Morocco denies categorically these slanderous
accusations against the officials of the country's organising committee
of the 1998 World Cup" (REUTERS, 6/14).
'WORRISOME' CASH: The BBC's Andrew Harding reported a "key figure" in South Africa's football World Cup bid has "broken ranks with the government to suggest there might be some truth" to a claim that a $10M bribe was paid to secure the 2010 World Cup. Former South African government minister Tokyo Sexwale said that the U.S. allegations were "worrisome." The government said that it paid $10M to accounts controlled by Warner to support football development in the Caribbean. Sexwale -- a former Robben Island prisoner, government
minister, and a member of both the World Cup bid team and local
organizing committee -- has now "openly questioned the credibility of the
claim" that the money was a "donation." He asked, "Where are the documents,
where are the invoices, where are the budgets, where are the projects on
the ground? If they are not there, you are going to leave the FBI interpretation intact" (BBC, 6/14).
QATAR LASHES OUT: In London, Simeon Kerr reported an editorial in the Al-Raya newspaper "summed up Qatar's view of those seeking to strip it of the 2022 World Cup." Al-Raya Editor-In-Chief Saleh al-Kuwari wrote "yellow press and discredited politicians" in the U.K., U.S. and Europe were conducting a "racist campaign" against Doha and the Muslim world. Al-Kuwari wrote, "These mad racist positions truly embody your refusal to accept the right of another to win, as if you have the monopoly on success. With these purely racist accusations you have failed to persuade global opinion." In the Gulf state, the mood is "combative," with Qataris backing their government's assertion that the gas-rich nation "has done nothing wrong." One student, who requested anonymity, said, "I think a lot of people believe it is rooted in jealousy and racism -- the typical discrimination from the west and their pseudo-moral superiority" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 6/15).
UNDER REVIEW: In Manchester, John Scheerhout reported an MP has urged Greater Manchester Police to review its relationship with Qatar after it emerged the Gulf state has paid the force £400,000 ($623,800) to train its officers for the 2022 World Cup "as well as lavishing designer gifts on its officers." Qatar has sent "around 300 of its officers to Manchester to learn English and British police practice." The contract GMP agreed with Qatar is worth £400,000, while it has also
emerged the visiting officers have "provided a series of gifts" to their
U.K. counterparts during their visits (MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, 6/14).
