A "key whistleblower has been flown to New York to testify" to FIFA Chief Investigator Michael Garcia about Australia's "controversial bidding strategy for the scandal-plagued 2022 World Cup," according to McKenzie & Baker of THE AGE. Garcia recently flew former Football Federation Australia Corporate Affairs Manager Bonita Mersiades to the U.S. to "confidentially interview her about the way Australia sought to win the backing" of football chiefs in '10. Garcia has "probed Australia's interaction with the two allegedly corrupt former FIFA officials, Jack Warner and Reynald Temarii," who are also at the center of allegations involving "Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid" (THE AGE, 6/3). In Sydney, Dominic Bossi reported the FFA has been "assisting FIFA's investigation into alleged corruption surrounding Qatar's bid for the 2022 World Cup hosting rights for the past few months." FFA CEO David Gallop said that Australia "re-entering the race for the 2022 World Cup remained a possibility following explosive allegations that Qatar was awarded the hosting rights" on the back of more than $5M worth of bribes and gifts. Gallop: "It's a serious development, they're serious allegations and we're looking to see what the response to that will be. It's too early to say whether that reopens the door of anything that happened a few years ago in terms of Australia's position but it's a bit of a 'watch this space' at this stage" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 6/2). In Sydney, Will Swanton reported former Australian footballer Jack Reilly, who is also an FFA board member, said of the price of honesty, "We paid for it in that process." Reilly: "We played by the rules. We ran a decent and honest campaign. It didn’t get us anywhere. (FFA Chair) Frank Lowy deserves the World Cup as a reward for everything he's done for the game in this country. He was flattened, absolutely flattened, by what happened with the bidding process, everything that was going on behind the scenes, all the lies and deceit" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/3).
D'HOOGHE WEIGHS IN: BLOOMBERG's Tariq Panja reported FIFA Medical Committee Chair Michel D'Hooghe, one of the "longest-serving board members" of FIFA, called for a "swift conclusion to a probe." D'Hooghe: "I only want one thing: that everything appears as quickly as possible so everyone knows who are the people who received money and who did not, because at the moment everyone seems to be think that everyone in FIFA is guilty of something" (BLOOMBERG, 6/2).
STANDING GROUND: The AFP reported Qatar’s 2022 football World Cup organizers “vehemently denied any wrong-doing.” The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said their bid “upheld the highest standard of ethics and integrity.” They said they were cooperating with Garcia and were “totally confident” that an “objective” inquiry would conclude Qatar won “fairly” (AFP, 6/2). In London, Ben Rumsby reported FIFA VP Issa Hayatou called fresh claims he received bribes in exchange for voting for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup as “ridiculous.” Hayatou, the long-serving president of the African Football Confederation and a senior member of FIFA’s exec committee, was identified as one of a number of football officials “to have been controversially courted by disgraced Qatari powerbroker Mohammed Bin Hammam.” The newspaper “obtained a cache of e-mails” which suggested former Bin Hammam hosted Hayatou "on a lavish junket in Doha.” The CAF said, “The CAF President never attended events from invitations of Mr Bin Hammam either in Doha or Kuala Lumpur” (TELEGRAPH, 6/2). Also in London, Steven Swinford wrote Qatar “should be stripped of the World Cup if ‘shocking’ allegations” its top football official paid millions of dollars to his African counterparts are proven. Deputy PM Nick Clegg said the bidding process for the 2022 World Cup must be rerun in a "fair and open" manner (TELEGRAPH, 6/2).
