By David Owen in Zurich
October 25 – Michel Zen-Ruffinen (pictured right), the former FIFA general secretary who has emerged as the latest source of explosive allegations in the World Cup bidding race, met the Sunday Times’ undercover reporters “quite a lot of times” over two-and-a-half months, he has told insideworldfootball.
He was, moreover, engaged to work for the lobbyists the reporters were pretending to be from early August right through until the day the hosts of both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups are due to be announced on December 2, he has disclosed.
Contacted in Switzerland, Zen-Ruffinen, who left FIFA in 2002 after a spectacular fall-out with Joseph Blatter – the FIFA President, whom he accused of reducing FIFA to “the Blatter organisation under the name of FIFA” – emphasised he understood the meetings with the undercover reporters to be confidential.
He said: “I agreed to act as a consultant.
“I met these people quite a lot of times over two-and-a-half months.
“They had sent a letter of engagement.
“I was supposed to work from early August up until December.
“All the discussions we had were in that framework as part of my duties as a consultant.
“We made an analysis of the situation with respect to the chances of the various bids and assessment of how each Executive Committee member might vote.
“These discussions were confidential because they were part of my duties.”
Zen-Ruffinen made clear he had not received any money for the advice he had given, but outlined the fee structure he said was to apply.
A sum of €20,000 (£18,000/$28,000) was to be paid immediately, he said, adding that this had not been received.
He was to get another €100,000 (£89,000/$140,000) once the contest reached its conclusion on December 2.
Finally, if - but only if - the candidate the undercover reporters claimed to be wanting to help actually won the right to stage one of the tournaments, he would receive the same again, that is to say a further €120,000 (£107,000/$168,000).
Though FIFA responded last week to the first set of Sunday Times allegations by provisionally suspending two Executive Committee members - Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii - pending a final hearing by its Ethics Committee on November 17, the cash-for-votes crisis looks set to dominate the next Executive Committee meeting in Zurich later this week.
Even if no more allegations emerge, FIFA will be subjected to a further six weeks of unremitting scrutiny and faces a tough battle to restore its battered reputation.
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