By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Swiss authorities have raided the offices of Switzerland-based sports rights agency Kentaro, investigating the relationship between a 2010 Brazil vs Argentina friendly and the 2018-2022 World Cup bid contests. Kentaro were, until recently, the agency responsible for marketing the Brazilian national team’s friendly fixtures.
On Wednesday, November 17, 2010 Doha’s Khalifa International stadium was the scene of a prestigious friendly between South American titans Brazil and Argentina. Both teams had new managers in Mano Menezes and Sergio Batista after disappointing World Cup campaigns in South Africa. Brazil’s lineup included Neymar, Robinho and Ronaldinho, while Argentina boasted Messi, Higuain and Di Maria in its starting eleven. Messi decided the game with a late solo goal.
The match brought two of the world’s most iconic teams to Qatar prior to the vote for the 2022 World Cup hosting. The implication is that the match may have swayed then FIFA executive members Ricardo Teixeira and Julio Grondona to pledge their vote to the tiny oil state. At the same time FIFA inspectors delivered a hammer blow to Qatar’s hopes of hosting 2022, rating Qatar as a high overall operational risk.
German newspaper Bild claims that Qatar paid up to $10 million to lure Messi and Neymar to its shores. Swiss authorities are investigating allegations of corruption by bid nations competing for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights. FIFA referred their own investigation to the Swiss authorities last November to review any potential crimes that may have been committed in Switzerland. However, the FIFA ethics investigation found that there was no evidence to suggest any rule-breaking practices had affected the integrity of the bidding process as a whole.
With regard to the Qatar match, the FIFA investigation raised concerns under FIFA’s Ethics rules regarding the financing of the event by “an entity wholly owned by a Qatari business conglomerate”, and the contractual structures, but that the “relevant arrangements were not connected to the Qatar 2022 bid”.
Swiss police want to trace the alleged match fee and ascertain whether kickbacks have been paid. The FBI has discovered a bank account of Ricardo Teixeira in Monaco with a number of bank transfers from the Gulf.
Kentaro chief executive Philipp Grothe told The Associated Press on Friday he met with police on May 27, the same day that the FIFA headquarters was raided. “We have always cooperated and will continue to do so,” said Grothe.
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