FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-Joon said that a report he was being investigated by the organization's ethics committee was proof that outgoing President Sepp Blatter "was trying to interfere in his campaign and should step down," according to Simon Evans of REUTERS.
German newspaper Die Welt reported on Friday that South Korean Chung "was facing an investigation into his involvement in a 2010 plan to set up a global football development fund related to South Korea’s bid for the 2022 World Cup."
It was the latest in a series of "allegations and counter-allegations surrounding candidates in the increasingly heated race to replace Blatter amid the worst crisis in FIFA's history." The statement from Chung's spokesperson, Lin Byung-taik, said that FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke "had assured Chung in 2010 that the development fund was not being investigated." He added, "FIFA is engaged in a self-defeating attempt to sabotage Dr. Chung’s candidacy ... President Blatter should stop intervening in the election and resign immediately" (REUTERS, 8/22).
UNFAIR TREATMENT: REUTERS' Joshua Franklin reported the head of FIFA's reform committee said that Blatter "has been unfairly treated" over the corruption scandal surrounding world football's governing body. Blatter "has been pilloried" for FIFA's failure to clamp down on corruption earlier. François Carrard: "There is something unfair about the way he is being treated. I say this in all independence. We're burning him. Certainly he has made mistakes but he has also brought positive elements. Unfortunately it is always like that when someone stays on too long, the negative gets the upper hand" (REUTERS, 8/23). In a separate piece, Franklin wrote Swiss authorities "have received more than 100 reports of suspicious financial activity linked to FIFA's decisions to let Russia and Qatar host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments." A spokesperson for Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General said, "I can confirm that the OAG received so far 103 suspicious financial activity reports regarding the allocation of the Football World Cup 2018 and 2022" (REUTERS, 8/22).
RUNNING INTO OBSTACLES: REUTERS' Hosenball & Rosenberg reported sources familiar with the matter said that a Swiss criminal investigation into corruption at FIFA "has hit some roadblocks." Barriers to progress include "reduced levels of collaboration with U.S. authorities who are conducting a parallel probe that is much more advanced, and an increasing acknowledgment by prosecutors in Bern that their powers under Swiss law are constrained in this kind of case."
The faltering communication across the Atlantic and legal limits on the Swiss probe "could mean the combined investigations will not have as far-ranging an impact as some FIFA critics had hoped." It could also "take some of the pressure off of FIFA for the more significant reforms sought by the organization's sponsors and others" (REUTERS, 8/21). REUTERS' Brian Homewood wrote Blatter said that FIFA "can never be dominated by one continent." Without going into details or naming anyone, Blatter said that "in the past one continental federation had tried to exert a dominance over the others, using proposed reforms as an attempt to grab the presidency." He said
"This is the key point which has (taken place) in the past years ... the takeover of one confederation towards the others. But this cannot work in FIFA."
He added, "This was a movement, this was a movement to get back the presidency."
That remark "may have referred to proposals" drafted by UEFA in the mid-1990s for a radical reform of FIFA, which at the time was run by Brazilian Joao Havelange who had been in charge since '74 (REUTERS, 8/22). REUTERS' Patrick Johnston reported FIFA "will send a team to investigate" the state of play in Indonesian football with the Southeast Asians hopeful the world governing body will overturn a ban administered for government interference.
Indonesia Youth & Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said on Friday that FIFA officials "would visit in October, four months after the country was banned" (REUTERS, 8/22).
