Swiss bank UBS said that it is "cooperating with authorities" who are investigating financial corruption linked to FIFA, according to the AP. UBS said that it was contacted about "accounts relating to (FIFA) and other constituent soccer associations and related persons and entities." Switzerland Attorney General Michael Lauber said that in September he had reports of "121 accounts suspected of links to money laundering." UBS joins Credit Suisse and Julius Baer "among banks in Switzerland to acknowledge they are helping prosecutors" (AP, 11/3). The AFP reported Credit Suisse said that the investigation focused on individuals and entities "including but not limited to certain persons and entities named and/or described in the May 20, 2015 indictment filed" in the U.S. as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged FIFA corruption. According to Swiss law, banks are "required to report all suspicious accounts and transactions" (AFP, 11/3).
PROPOSED REFORMS: REUTERS' Simon Evans wrote Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a leading member of FIFA's reform committee, said that up to 40% of the reform proposals made by Ethics & Compliance Chair Domenico Scala "could be rejected, including plans for term limits" for top execs. Sheikh Ahmad, one of the key power brokers in int'l sport, "defended the decision of the reform committee to turn down a proposal for term limits" for members of FIFA. Asked about Scala's reforms, Sheikh Ahmad said that "60-70 percent" of the proposals were being backed by the committee but said term-limits "would be restricted to the FIFA president alone." Scala proposed term limits of "three, four-year terms also for members of the exec committee, the secretary general and members of FIFA's other independent committees" (REUTERS, 11/2).
NEUTRAL VENUE: REUTERS' Patrick Johnston reported Malaysia will write to FIFA for a third time asking for its World Cup qualifier away to Palestine next week "be moved to a neutral venue." Malaysia said that the Nov. 12 fixture at the Dora Stadium in Hebron "should not go ahead because of security concerns after a month-long wave of violence in the West Bank." Malaysia FA General Secretary Hamidin Amin said, "We are aware of the situation and will write to FIFA to express our concerns. We have written to them before but that will not stop us from doing so again" (REUTERS, 11/3). ARABIAN BUSINESS reported Saudi Arabia has "pulled out of a disputed 2018 World Cup qualifier against Palestine in Ramallah despite orders from FIFA to play the match." The Saudi Football Federation has sent an official letter "in which it announced withdrawing from the match against Palestine scheduled for Thursday." The match was originally supposed to be played in Palestine, but Saudi Arabia had refused to travel to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, citing undefined "exceptional circumstances" (ARABIAN BUSINESS, 11/3).
EXTRADITION: REUTERS' Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi wrote, former Brazilian Football Confederation President Jose Maria Marin "was extradited from Switzerland" to the U.S. on Tuesday, to "face charges stemming from an FBI investigation into corruption at the highest levels of the sport." A spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Department of Justice & Police said that Marin was "handed over to two U.S. police officers in Zurich who accompanied him on a flight to N.Y. (REUTERS, 11/3).
