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Leaders: FIFA Candidate Chung Threatens To Sue Blatter For $100M

FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon threatened to sue embattled Sepp Blatter for around $100M, and said he is running for the FIFA presidency to restore pride in an organization that is more corrupt than the "mafia." The South Korean multi-millionaire said, “I am running for FIFA president because I love football very much. I am not here for money. If I am elected president of FIFA I don’t need a podium. I don’t need a private jet to go to the grocery, I don’t need a private jet to buy a pair of news shoes either. Everyone is calling for Mr. Blatter’s resignation because they know that he is the source of all the problems.” He added that Blatter, who he dubbed “corrupt" and a “liar,” should be not be allowed to oversee FIFA's reform process. Speaking at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London, Chung laid out a wide-ranging attack on Blatter and reiterated his pledges on how he would reform FIFA if elected.

BADGE OF SHAME: Former FIFA VP Chung, who is also under investigation by FIFA’s ethics committee, said, “FIFA has become a badge of shame. To call it a mafia is almost insulting to mafia, so blatant and arrogant is its corruption.” Chung, who sat on FIFA’s exec committee for 17 years, claims he has being targeted unfairly by the ethics committee which is out to scupper his leadership bid. He revealed that, under the advice of his Swiss lawyer, he is planning to launch legal action for “embezzlement” against Blatter -- who has denied he has done anything wrong and is due to stand down in February next year -- through Swiss courts and could be seeking as much as $100M. If Chung is successful in his case, he said “the money should go back to FIFA” to invest in football.

RAPID RESPONSE: Chung is a major shareholder in Hyundai, a top FIFA sponsor that -- along with adidas -- has not come out and called for Blatter to resign. However, Chung pointed out that Hyundai wanted to see a “prompt” and “transparent” investigation into the goings-on at FIFA. Chung also reiterated his pledges to how he would reform FIFA, which include increasing financial transparency and raising the prize money for the women’s World Cup.
John Reynolds is a writer in London.

BAD BLOOD: In London, Owen Gibson reported Chung "claims he was a lone voice of criticism against Blatter" for much of his 17 years on FIFA's exec committee. Chung: "Like the dungeon in the FIFA HQ, FIFA has become a very secretive place. In an age when one can find out the salary of a company president or a PM any time, we still don't know president Blatter's salary. For Blatter to get paid without authorization of the executive committee is embezzlement." Chung added that an allegation regarding vote trading with England, "over a deal said to have been sealed in front of PM David Cameron and Prince William," had been dropped by the FIFA ethics committee. Chung "refused to say whether he actually voted for England in the controversial '18-22 race," pointing to FIFA rules governing the secret ballot. The morning after England received just two votes, "sources claimed Chung had reneged on an agreement to trade his vote." Chung said that "there was no such deal" (GUARDIAN, 10/7). In London, Ben Rumsby wrote Chung also declared Blatter "should be held personally liable" for the $100M it cost FIFA to fight a court case related to a sponsorship scandal involving Visa and Mastercard nine years ago. Chung: "The Visa/Mastercard case should have been held as a criminal case. That was corruption. They even forged the signature of the president of Visa to make a separate contract to deceive Mastercard. Why should FIFA pay the fine for president Blatter's corruption? President Blatter and Mr. Valcke -- the general secretary under suspension -- should pay the fine from their own pockets" (TELEGRAPH, 10/7).  

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