Corruption claims against World Cup voters

 By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

The Sunday Times in London claimed to have caught Nigerian Amos Adamu, a FIFA Executive Committee member, on film as he told an undercover reporter he would guarantee his vote in exchange for £500,000 ($800,000).

The newspaper’s reporters had posed as lobbyists for a consortium of private American companies called Franklin Jones which wanted to help secure the World Cup for the United States.

In a video released tonight, the reporter met Adamu in London and offered to pay him the six-figure sum to help build practice pitches in Africa.

In the video, Adamu was asked whether the money for a “private project” would have an effect on the way he voted, he replied: “Obviously, it will have an effect.

“Of course it will.

“Because certainly if you are to invest in that, that means you also want the vote.

“That is the proposal if you are going to spend money on it.”

When Adamu was asked how he wanted the money paid – via the Nigerian Football Federation or directly – he replied, “directly, directly” and demanded half the figure up-front.

Adamu had offered a “guarantee” that he would vote for the Americans in the 2018 vote, but said they would be his second preference in 2022.

The US pulled out of the race on Friday, saying it wanted to focus on bidding for the 2022 tournament.

The reporters involved in the story emphasised they had no links to the bid and that the US committee’s campaign had been completely above board.

The newspaper said a second member of the Executive Committee, Reynald Temarii, who is president of the Oceania Football Confederation, asked to be paid for his vote as well. In his case, they said he wanted the money to finance a sports academy.

It means that the 2018 tournament is guaranteed to return to Europe with the bidders being England and Russia and joint bids from Holland and Belgium and Spain and Portugal.

Adamu’s involvement will be a blow to England who have been courting him for several months, including travelling to the Nigerian Abuja last December to meet him.

The delegation, led by then England 2018 World Cup bid leader Lord Triesman, included former Manchester United Striker Andrew Cole (pictured), who presented Adamu with a signed photograph of his days at Old Trafford.

Temarii, who is from Tahiti, meanwhile, wanted £1.5 million ($2.4 million) for a sports academy for his vote, it is claimed by the newspaper.

FIFA has asked for all material relating to the allegations.

A spokesman said: “FIFA and the FIFA Ethics Committee have closely monitored the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups and will continue to do so.

“FIFA has already requested to receive all of the information and documents related to this matter, and is awaiting to receive this material. In any case, Fifa will immediately analyse the material available and only once this analysis has concluded will FIFA be able to decide on any potential next steps. In the meantime,

“FIFA is not in a position to provide any further comments on this matter.”

Amadou Diakite, who sits on FIFA’s Referees’ Committee, is alleged to have told the same Sunday Times reporters that they should offer bribes of around $1 million (£625,000) to officials.

“Leaving the member to decide what he is going to do with the amount is the safest way to get his vote,” he allegedly said.

Sunil Gulati, the President of the US Soccer Federation and chairman of the USA Bid Committee, sought to underline that they had no role in the affair.

“The Sunday Times report today makes it clear, but it bears emphasis and repeating, that the USA Bid Committee had zero involvement with any aspect of the reporting that resulted in this story,” he said in a statement.

“This is a matter that is totally under the governance of FIFA, and therefore we will have no further comment.”

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