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By Andrew Warshaw
October 18 – At least two of the nine bidding candidates for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup were sensationally placed under formal examination for alleged collusion today as the cash-for-votes probe intensified.
As well as referring the two senior executives at the heart of the scandal - Nigeria’s Amos Adamu and Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii – to its Ethics Committee, FIFA dramatically disclosed that it was also opening separate disciplinary proceedings against at least two unnamed bidders to see if they had broken the rules by vote-dealing.
“FIFA has opened proceedings against two current members of the FIFA Executive Committee to ascertain whether they have violated the FIFA Code of Ethics, and has asked the chairman of the Ethics Committee to act without delay to take all possible steps, including the possibility of provisional measures, should the relevant conditions be met,” an unusually strongly-worded FIFA statement said.
Arguably even more significantly, FIFA said it was also taking action to make sure there had been no collusion among bidders, long rumoured but never proven.
“FIFA also confirms that the alleged agreements between member associations would also be a clear violation of the bid registration document and the code of ethics,” the statement said.
“Therefore, an investigation has also been opened into the member associations in question as well as their bid committees.
“FIFA has again asked the chairman of the Ethics Committee to act without delay to take all possible steps, including the possibility of provisional measures, should the relevant conditions be met.”
And in a third development following the Sunday Times’ explosive allegations, FIFA revealed that other officials were also being probed.
“Investigations are also ongoing in relation to other FIFA officials who may have been involved in the issue in question,” the statement added.”
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), of which Temarii (pictured) is President, earlier issued a statement saying he welcomed a “full and thorough investigation” into claims he offered to sell his vote after being approached by Sunday Times reporters posing as lobbyists for an American consortium.
The newspaper report said Adamu asked for £500,000 ($800,000) for a personal project and that Temarii wanted £1.5 million ($2.4 million) to fund a sports academy.
“Further to information made public by The Sunday Times, the OFC President and FIFA Vice President Reynald Temarii will cooperate fully with the FIFA Ethics Committee and the FIFA Secretary General,” a statement from the OFC said.
“Reynald Temarii welcomes a full and thorough investigation so that all the facts can be heard.”
insideworldfootball understands that Switzerland’s Claudio Sulser, head of the FIFA Ethics Committee, has the power to suspend both Adamu and Temarii with immediate effect if the allegations against them are substantiated.
The most likely earliest date for this is Wednesday (October 20) when the committee has a scheduled meeting at FIFA headquarters in Zurich and will examine all the documents and video recordings relating to the Sunday Times allegations.
FIFA insiders have also privately identified two World Cup candidates under scrutiny to insideworldfootball.
One is understood to be from Europe, the other from Asia, though neither can be named until the Ethics Committee - or Sulser himself - makes a ruling.
What is becoming clear, however, is that 22 FIFA Executive Committee members could end up taking the all-important vote on December 2 instead of 24 - a hugely damaging scenario made even more contentious by the fact that, for the first time, two World Cups are at stake rather than one.
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