By Andrew Warshaw
October 21 – Frank Beckenbauer and Angel Villar Ilona, two names that have repeatedly been mentioned in unsubstantiated reports about alleged wrongdoing during their time with FIFA, have both been formally investigated by the ethics committee and are awaiting verdicts.
Twenty-four hours after the lid was lifted over strict confidentiality rules that for years have straight-jacketed ethics investigators in terms of what they can and can’t reveal, and when, Beckenbauer and Villar were cited today as previously unconfirmed figures caught up in the FIFA corruption crisis.
German legend Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner as both a coach and player, went into football administration after his distinguished career, organising his country’s highly successful 2006 World Cup and becoming a member of FIFA’s executive committee.
Now retired, he was widely reported to have voted for Russia for 2018 and Australia for 2022 while Villar Llona, around whom there have been claims of vote collusion for years, has sat on FIFA’s executive committee since 1998.
Last year Der Kaiser, as Beckenbauer is known, was censured for non-cooperation into Michael Garcia’s 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process probe, only for the suspension to be lifted before it even got into its stride when Beckenbauer subsequently answered all the questions put to him. It is understood the current investigation relates to the same thing and not recent allegations surrounding vote-buying in the build-up to the 2006 ballot when Germany edged home 12-11 against South Africa.
Villar has long been under suspicion in the international media and the fact that he has now been named by ethics investigators only goes to prove those suspicions correct. His case also apparently refers to non-cooperation with the Garcia probe though whether he will banned, and how long for, remains unclear though it is expected a verdict will be made sooner rather than later.
Ironically, as UEFA’s second in command, Villar has only just taken over some of the roles and responsibilities handled by UEFA boss Michel Platini, who is under suspension himself. How long the ultra-conservative Spaniard, a FIFA vice-president, will now be permitted to remain in those posts must be open to question.
A FIFA statement simply read: “Proceedings relating to the two officials Angel Maria Villar Llona and Franz Beckenbauer have already been passed on to the adjudicatory chamber. For procedural reasons, no further names of other parties affected by the proceedings are currently being disclosed.”
The ethics committee also confirmed that investigations were “ongoing” against FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Platini, both suspended for 90 days. That we knew already but what is significant in the statement is a pledge by the committee to “do everything in its power to ensure that a decision can be taken” by ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert within the current time frame. Such a decision would either clear Blatter and/or Platini before the February 26 presidential election, technically allowing the latter to succeed the former, or ban them further.
In addition the investigatory chamber also confirmed proceedings were ongoing against suspended FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke but not, tellingly, because of the World Cup ticketing scheme he was originally sanctioned for. Valcke is being probed instead for “the suspicion of misuse of expenses and other infringements of FIFA’s rules and regulations. “
Insiders close to the ethics committee were quick to point out that the cases of Blatter, Platini and Valcke were considered of far more prominence than those of Beckenbauer and Villar, suggesting ultimate sanctions against the latter pair may not be too draconian.
The committee also confirmed six other former FIFA executive committee members were under investigation. All have been previously suspended or have resigned from office.
“Formal investigation proceedings relating to the suspicion of infringements of the FIFA Code of Ethics are amongst others ongoing against Worawi Makudi, Jeffrey Webb, Ricardo Teixeira, Amos Adamu, Eugenio Figueredo and Nicolás Leoz,” said the statement.
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