By Andrew Warshaw
April 27 – Just six days after apparently being reported to FIFA’s ethics committee for an alleged conflict of interest relating to Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid, FIFA number two Fatma Samoura has been told she has no case to answer, fuelling speculation of a botched behind-the-scenes plot to have the Moroccans thrown out of the process.
The BBC revealed earlier this week that members of FIFA’s World Cup bid evaluation task force, all high-ranking allies of Gianni Infantino, had reported Samoura for having an undeclared family link with Morocco 2026 bid ambassador El Hadji Diouf.
Samoura, FIFA’s general secretary, described the allegations as “totally ridiculous and baseless” while suspicions that Infantino may have been behind the ethics complaint drew a furious response from the Moroccans.
FIFA made the point of insisting that Infantino had no role whatsoever in the process but now, in a sudden and speedy retreat, the ethics committee has told Samoura she will not be investigated, according to the BBC, raising the crucial question of who launched the complaint in the first place and what was the motivation behind it.
FIFA has not specified the exact nature of the complaint or the progress of any ethics investigation but it is understood a representative of BDO, the Swiss audit firm who assisted the Task Force, has been in Morocco this week as part of a group of FIFA experts making final technical checks.
Meanwhile, amid increasing claims of dirty tricks in a process that was supposed to be whiter than white, Samoura has received a timely show of support from Infantino, a spokesman telling The Associated Press: “The FIFA president retains full confidence in Fatma Samoura.”
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