Football Federation Australia Chair Frank Lowy said that "he is happy to co-operate if the Senate holds an inquiry into Australia’s failed bid to host to 2022 World Cup finals," on Tuesday admitting FFA "never stood a chance" of winning, according to Ray Gatt of THE AUSTRALIAN. Speaking publicly for the first time since the FBI and Swiss police arrested a number of FIFA officials in dawn raids in Zurich 10 days ago for alleged corruption, Lowy "was belligerent several times during a 40-minute grilling pre-recorded in New York on Sky News" on Tuesday. Lowy, who is one of the richest men in the country, admitted he "should have known better" and still had nightmares over the '10 embarrassment of spending A$43M of taxpayers’ money to garner just one vote. During his interview on Sky News, Lowy:
• Said that FFA "ran a clean bid and vehemently denied it paid any bribes to try to win the vote;"
• Denied "any wrongdoing" in a A$500,000 payment made to CONCACAF for a football center of excellence in Trinidad;
• Took "full responsibility for the failed bid;"
• Said that "he would not have entered the race" had he known he had less than a 50% chance of winning;
• Defended the "controversial appointments of several consultants for the bid;"
• Said that "the bidding process needed to change" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/10).
NO CHANCE: In Melbourne, Jesse Hogan wrote Lowy said that "he had no part in negotiations" over the A$500,000
payment to the Central American football authority that was allegedly
swindled by former FIFA VP Jack Warner. Lowy
also declared he has "no concern" he could be implicated in the
"disgraced powerbroker's pledge to disclose all of his interactions" while
at FIFA. When asked if "controversial" bid consultant Peter Hargitay may have known the money contributed by Australia to CONCACAF may have ended up solely with Warner, due to his close relationship with the him, Lowy replied, "He [Hargitay] told me he was close to many people -- and he was. I have no idea [if he knew]. He never told me, and I never asked him." Lowy said that once FFA discovered the money had not been used as intended, at least a year later, "it sought to reclaim the money from CONCACAF." He "defended the decision not to alert the AFP or other authorities to the suspected fraud" (THE AGE, 6/9). REUTERS' Ian Ransom wrote Lowy, however, said that "Australia was guilty only of being naive in campaigning for a vote he described as effectively pre-determined." Lowy: "On the subject, did we have a chance or didn’t we have a chance: As it turned out to be, it was a competition between various associations and some other associations ... nation states. The states talk to each other about their commercial and diplomatic interests. They agreed between each other what they do for each other as part of those negotiations" (REUTERS, 6/9).
PAINFUL PROCESS: REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported IOC President Thomas Bach encouraged FIFA to continue with its reforms on Monday but warned that "the process would be painful." Bach added that "he did not want to give advice to FIFA and pointed out that the structures of the two organizations were enormously different and difficult to compare." Bach: "We can only encourage FIFA to continue (with) the reforms which have been initiated, we cannot give detailed advice of what to do but we appreciate there is a readiness for reforms. We also know from our experience that ... putting everything on the desk can be a painful experience, but it is absolutely necessary to do this as we have seen from our own history" (REUTERS, 6/8).
PAY-CUT: The PA reported FA of Ireland CEO John Delaney has been urged to take a voluntary 50% pay-cut "as politicians prepare to quiz him." Members of the Oireachtas sub-committee on sport, which meets on Wednesday, are expected to call for the under-fire CEO "to appear before them to explain the chain of events" that led to FIFA's controversial €5M loan in the wake of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup playoff exit in '09. However, member Tom Fleming TD "has challenged Delaney to agree to halve his annual salary," reportedly around €400,000 (£294,000) before recent adjustments, to bring him into line with Ireland PM Enda Kenny (PA, 6/9).
