By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – ‘Watch-gate’, the much-published saga which blew up when heads of all 32 finalists at last year’s World Cup plus members of the FIFA executive committee, 65 individuals in all, were given luxury watches by the Brazilian FA to mark its centenary on the eve of the tournament, is back in the news – with an intriguing twist.
The luxury Parmigiani watches were famously placed in goodie bags for a string of executives, several of whom brought the issue to the attention of FIFA’s ethics committee which subsequently ruled their value exceeded permitted limits and ordered they be handed back
In a statement today, the committee said the watches had now been donated the Berlin-based global charity streetfootballworld who will invest proceeds from their sale into grassroots football projects in Brazil.
After initially saying it had distributed 65 watches, Brazil’s soccer federation provided FIFA with the names of 57 individuals who had received the gifts, according to the New York Times.
However, the ethics committee, which said last year it would not open formal proceedings against officials if they handed the watches over, said it had found that only 48 watches were actually distributed, all of which have now been returned, and made no mention of any remaining ones.
Fifa’s code of ethics says gifts cannot be received if they represent more than “symbolic or trivial value” and that “if in doubt, gifts shall not be offered or accepted”. The watches in question were apparently worth $26,000 each.
Among those who received a watch was Jeffrey Webb, the former Concacaf president and one of those arrested just before last May’s Fifa congress as part of the US-led probe into widespread corruption. To make bail last summer after being extradited from Switzerland, Webb reportedly put up 11 luxury watches but a Parmigiani was not apparently among them.
Another of those caught up in the scandal was former Brazilian FA boss Jose Maria Marin, whose association donated the watches and who, like Webb, has pleaded not guilty and is under house arrest in New York.
In its statement the ethics committee said it had “donated 48 watches to global NGO streetfootballworld. The investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee earlier demanded that the watches be turned over to the Ethics Committee after determining that they were unauthorised gifts as per the FIFA Code of Ethics.
“The Brazilian Football Association (CBF) had offered the watches as gifts to certain football officials, including members of FIFA’s Executive Committee and representatives of football associations, attending the 64th FIFA Congress held in Brazil prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“On 18 September 2014, under the leadership of its former chairman, the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee decided not to open formal ethics proceedings in this matter against officials who had received the gifts provided that they return them to the Ethics Committee.
“After having investigated the matter thoroughly, the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee found evidence that from the initially intended 65 watches offered by the CBF to football officials, several officials had, in fact, not received a watch. Following said investigations and after contacting all potential recipients, 48 watches were returned to the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee.
“The investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, led by its chairman Dr Cornel Borbely, decided that all watches returned to FIFA would now be donated to the international non-profit organisation streetfootballworld, who will directly invest all resources generated through the sale of the watches into initiatives across Brazil that use football to drive social change.
“The investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee considers the matter to be closed.”
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