Australian powerbrokers in int'l labor organizations and world sport "have been enmeshed in a vicious smear campaign centred around this month’s election of the FIFA president to replace banned world football boss Sepp Blatter," according to Jacquelin Magnay of THE AUSTRALIAN.
The computers of the Brussels-based Int'l Trade Union Confederation, headed by former Australian Council of Trade Unions General Secretary Sharan Burrow, "have been hacked and one email was allegedly fabricated to try to discredit both the confederation and a group of Australians who have been pushing for greater transparency and reform in the widely corrupt FIFA."
Burrow and her Australian communications advisers, Gemma Swart and Tim Noonan, Australian businessman Jaimie Fuller, former Football Federation Australia exec Bonita Mersiades, and Britain-based Transparency Int'l exec Deborah Unger "are accused of colluding to undermine and discredit the candidature of controversial Bahrain royal family member Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa." The ITUC "identified one particular email as being an obvious fake" when confronted by Swiss newspaper Weltwoche. It was "nonetheless published in Switzerland, where FIFA has its headquarters, and then republished by a pro-Qatari football website." The published stories "were then tweeted by fake journalists such as 'Isabelle Vlady,' copying in legitimate journalists." The ITUC said the attacks had included "fake videos, fake social media accounts and other techniques aimed at the ITUC and individuals." The ITUC said, "This week the ITUC received confirmation that ITUC email accounts have been hacked and falsified material inserted into emails" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/17). In a separate piece, Magnay reported "other journalists in more mainstream publications also received the emails, but chose not to publish them." Many of these media outlets, particularly in Fleet Street, "have been issued with stop writs by a party involved in the election and have been exceptionally cautious about their storytelling."
A possible error in the dates "was a key clue." It was alleged that on Sept. 9, Swart wrote to Noonan and others, "Prince Ali just announced that he may run again (for the presidency). We do benefit if he wins and Sheikh Salman loses. We can divert some money for a disinformation campaign against Salman."
But on that date Sheikh Salman "had not announced his candidacy and would not do so for another five weeks." Just who would have the means and the motivation "to manipulate private correspondence is something the Belgian police are currently investigating." Apart from the football angle, Burrow "has been fending off criticism within her confederation" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/17).
