By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-Joon has issued yet another fierce rebuke against Sepp Blatter, blaming the outgoing Swiss veteran for undermining his credentials for succeeding him and meddling with the election process as well as accusing FIFA of acting like the Mafia.
Clearly feeling the pressure amid unconfirmed reports of a FIFA ethics probe against him which threaten his pursuit of a crowning comeback, Chung’s office points the finger squarely at Blatter whose presidency has long been opposed by the South Korean.
“This is yet another clear proof that president Blatter is interfering in the upcoming FIFA presidential election. FIFA is engaged in a self-defeating attempt to sabotage Dr Chung’s candidacy,” said a statement on behalf of Chung.
According to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag FIFA’s ethics committee has recommended a 15-year suspension for Chung who was FIFA’s Asian vice-president for 17 years until being ousted in 2011.
The recommendation is understood to have been prompted by Chung contacting FIFA executive committee members ahead of the December 2010, joint ballot for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup, informing them of a plan to contribute $777 million to worldwide football development if his country won the 2022 vote.
This is believed to be viewed by the ethics committee as conflict of interest verging on vote buying.
In its statement, Chung’s office vehemently denies any malpractise and points out that that the Global Fund announcement was made public in October 2010 – two months before the vote – and that Chung’s letters were sent afterwards, not before.
“Many countries, including England and Qatar, submitted plans for football development just as big, if not bigger, than South Korea’s,” the statement said.
It also stressed that FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke had personally written to Chung and Korean bid leader Dr. Han Sung-joo , informing them that the case would not be submitted to the ethics committee and was closed.
“FIFA is engaged in a self-defeating attempt to sabotage Dr. Chung’s candidacy, following its recent attacks against UEFA President Michel Platini,” the statement added. “President Blatter should stop intervening in the election and resign immediately.
“FIFA should realize that it is because it continues to engage in such a reprehensible behavior, that it is unfavorably compared to Mafia by so many.”
One flaw in Chung’s argument is that Valcke’s written assurance, sent in November, 2010, came well before the ethics committee was reformed into a new twin-chamber arrangement, with an investigatory arm and an adjudicatory chamber.
Sources have told Insideworldfootball that Valcke’s action at the time had no relevance to the more robust workings of today’s ethics committee and that Chung’s complaint is based on a situation that was in place well before the ethics code was tightened up. “The whole system has changed,” said one insider. “It now has an independence that wasn’t there in the past.”
It is certainly inconceivable Chung would not have known about the reference to South Korea’s conduct in the 42-page summary of Michael Garcia’s notorious 430-page dossier into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process and potential corruption at FIFA. The summary was compiled by FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and appeared to at least throw into question Chung’s activities in the build-up to the ballot.
So far, UEFA boss Michel Platini, the only other heavyweight contender for Blatter’s job on February 26 next year, has kept his counsel. Platini, just like Chung, is no friend of Blatter but UEFA must be taking considerable satisfaction at seeing the Korean’s campaign flounder within just a couple of weeks of being launched in Paris.
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