The moment of truth is approaching. By April 15, the world will get to know how FIFA is going to handle the famous ISL dossier, i.e. the bribes paid to high ranking FIFA officials by its former marketing partner.
It will be a litmus test for FIFA and its reforms. The world is keen to see if FIFA is really serious about cleaning up the mess of the past. If FIFA seriously wants to reboot, then Joao Havelange, Nicolas Leoz, and Issa Hayatou must be on the agenda related to ISL, perhaps even Joseph “Sepp” Blatter .
The key lies in the hands of FIFA judge Joachim Eckert who allegedly received a 4000-pages ISL dossier from FIFA prosecutor Michael J. Garcia. Neither Garcia nor Eckert confirmed the number of the pages. However, it can be definitely reduced to a four-page Excel-file that basically states: Several members of FIFA’s Executive Committee took bribes declared as ‘provisions’ from FIFA’s former ‘captive company’, as former ISL executives called their own entity.
It is a myth that the ISL payments were perfectly legal in Switzerland at that time. While Swiss law, indeed, does not prohibit such payments, it was illegal for executives in a company or an organization such as FIFA to accept them. Doing so, from then until now, is an offense termed “criminal mismanagement”, under Swiss criminal law.
So, who got the money? The four pages Excel-file names all the beneficiaries of the “provisions” paid by ISL from 1989 to 1999. Most of the recipients of the 175 payments, totaling about 140 million Swiss Francs are sham companies in different jurisdictions worldwide. Even the Swiss prosecutor investigating could not find out where these companies were incorporated or who were the hidden ultimate beneficial owners. But some of the blessed sports officials are listed with their full names, among them Nicolas Leoz and Issa Hayatou. At present, they are still sitting on the board of FIFA. This must change.
There are at least three instances that prove that the Excel-file is authentic. First, Africa’s football supremo Issa Hayatou is named as having received 100,000 French francs (equal to 27,400 Swiss francs at that time) in 1995. The International Olympic Committee investigated him, and he confirmed to have accepted the money to “finance the 40th anniversary of African football confederation CAF”. The number related to him was correct.
Second, Lamine Diack is also on the list and also admitted receiving the payments. The president of the International Association of Athletics Federations had received more than 50,000 Swiss francs in 1993. When investigated by the IOC, he stated to have received the money from ISL “in order to meet the costs caused by a fire at his house for political reasons”. The number related to him was also correct.
Third, the Excel list was confirmed by the Swiss criminal investigation into Ricardo Teixeira, Joao Havelange and FIFA itself for criminal mismanagement and embezzlement related to the ISL bribes. In the so-called ISL file, written by the Swiss prosecutor, payments worth more than 20 million Swiss francs in favor of Havelange and Teixeira are listed. These payments are listed on the Excel-file.
While Teixeira left the football business, and FIFA therefore has no more jurisdiction over him, Hayatou has never been reprimanded, and Havelange still carries the title as FIFA’s honorary president. And there are even two more members of the board still in their positions, seemingly untouched, even though they are deeply involved in the ISL scandal.
One of them is the South American football president, Nicolas Leoz, another beneficiary of ISL bribes. In the Excel-file, he is listed for having received payments totaling more than one million Swiss francs. There is no reason to doubt this figure because – as stated above – the authenticity of the Excel-file has been confirmed several times by different persons.
Last but not least, FIFA president Blatter could find himself in the focus of FIFA justice, too. According to former ISL executives, among friends and business partners, he used to call the bribes “oxygen”. If Blatter knew about it, he did not intervene.
It would be a setback for FIFA trying to clear its name, if all these FIFA officials are not sanctioned and their public statements not publicly questioned by FIFA’s new justice. Havelange, Leoz, Hayatou – all of them should be scared of what FIFA judge Eckert will decide. But actually, there are reasons to believe the FIFA officials already made provisions against possible sanctions.
One of FIFA’s proposals to be voted on at the Congress in May, and already approved by the executive committee, says under the title “Removal from office of an installed vice-president or other member of the Executive Committee before completion of his mandate”: “An installed vice-president or other member of the Executive Committee may only be removed from office before completion of his mandate by the FIFA Congress or the congress of the confederation concerned.”
This sounds as if FIFA is not keen on facing this moment of truth.
Jean Francois Tanda is a leading investigative journalist specialising in international sports. He writes for weekly Swiss business newspaper Handelszeitung www.handelszeitung.ch