(WFI) FIFA’s Ethics Committee says it hopes to deliver its verdict on investigations into Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini within the 90-day suspension period.
“The investigatory chamber will do everything in its power to ensure that a decision can be taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert, within the 90-day suspension period of the two football officials,” FIFA’s ethics committee said in a statement on Wednesday.
The two have been provisionally banned since Oct. 8. The investigation is focusing on the $2.1 million payment Platini received from FIFA in February 2011 for work he did as a consultant to Blatter between 1998 and 2002.
The FIFA investigatory arm said Valcke’s case “related to the suspicion of misuse of expenses and other infringements of FIFA’s rules and regulations”. Last month, Valcke was reported to have been banned for 90 days for his part in a 2014 World Cup black market ticketing scheme.
Under a change in FIFA’s code of ethics made by the ExCo on Tuesday, the investigatory arm of its ethics panel was today able to release information about ongoing investigations. Up until now, it had to wait until all appeal possibilities had been exhausted to provide such information.
The investigatory chamber led by Cornel Borbély confirmed some of what was already known – that proceedings are underway against Blatter, Platini and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke – but revealed that another six current or former FIFA Executive Committee members are under investigation for various alleged breaches of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
They are: Worawi Makudi, Jeffrey Webb, Ricardo Teixeira, Amos Adamu, Eugenio Figueredo and Nicolás Leoz.
FIFA has completed investigations into two officials, Ángel María Villar Llona and Franz Beckenbauer, who are awaiting verdicts from ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.
Villar Llona and Beckenbauer face ethics sanctions related to their lack of cooperation with Michael Garcia’s probe into the scandal-hit 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contest.
Information on the Spain-Portugal bid was conspicuous by its absence in Garcia’s 430-page report due in part to Villar Llona’s refusal to speak with FIFA’s former chief investigator.
The Spanish FA president was on Tuesday appointed to replace Platini as head of FIFA's World Cup organising committee. Villar Llona also faced allegations of vote collusion between Spain-Portugal and Qatar 2022.
Beckenbauer was banned for 90 days by FIFA in June 2014 for failing to cooperate with Garcia’s probe despite “repeated requests for his assistance”.
“Under the FIFA Code of Ethics, pursuant to the presumption of innocence, the investigatory chamber shall examine all circumstances of the cases equally,” FIFA said.
“In this sense, all parties are presumed innocent until a decision has been passed by the adjudicatory chamber.”
As to the amendment of article 36 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, it was confirmed that it will be possible for the Ethics Committee “to confirm on request the opening of proceedings against representatives of world football”.
“The investigatory chamber will always weigh the interests of transparency against the need to conduct proper adjudicatory proceedings, the personality rights of the parties involved and the presumption of innocence,” the statement said.
“For procedural reasons, the investigatory chamber can therefore only comment on ongoing formal proceedings regarding members of the Executive Committee, the Secretary General, the candidates for the FIFA Presidency and confederation representatives in leading positions.”
The FIFA investigatory chamber confirmed that under no circumstance would preliminary inquiries into possible ethics violations be made public for procedural reasons.
But it did confirm that more information may be forthcoming on “a moderate number of preliminary investigations against a number of football officials”.
“If one of these preliminary investigations gives rise to a concrete suspicion of wrongdoing, the chamber will open formal proceedings against the accused. Only then will the investigatory chamber consider whether to publicly confirm the relevant investigation,” the statement concluded.
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Qatar 2022 Says No Contact from Investigators Probing Bidding Scandal
(WFI) A senior Qatar World Cup official says the Gulf nation is not concerned with the Swiss investigation into FIFA corruption and the 2022 bidding process.
Nasser al Khater, assistant secretary general for Qatar World Cup organisers, told reporters Wednesday that Swiss authorities probing a series of corruption allegations linked to the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups had not been in touch with Qatar World Cup chiefs.
When asked about the investigation, Khater insisted there had been no contact at all from Swiss investigators but Qatar 2022 would fully cooperate with the bidding probe.
As for the corruption scandal that has brought FIFA's leadership to its knees, Khater said Qatar 2022 wanted a more transparent organization.
"What we would like to see is a strong transparent football governing body going forward, whoever it may be," he said of upcoming reforms and the search for a successor to Sepp Blatter, who has been suspended over corruption claims.
Nasser al Khater (WFI)Khater said the FIFA scandal was not impacting Qatar 2022 preparations.
“We focus on progress, communicating progress and making sure we engage with the local community for them to understand the benefits of the World Cup,” he said.
With seven years remaining until the World Cup heads to Qatar, Khater says organisers are on track with the venue and infrastructure construction necessary to host the FIFA showpiece.
“Our progress is very, very good. I think we are happy with where we are now, and I believe we are on schedule to have all of our stadiums completed by the year 2020. Seven years out from the tournament, I’m very comfortable to say we are in a very, very good place,” said Khater.
Khalifa International Stadium rendering (SC)Khater said the venue plan is set to be the most compact in the history of the World Cup, a feat possible due to the size of the oil-rich country.
“Qatar is a small country so we promote the compact nature of this World Cup. For the players, they won’t have to travel after they finish a game. That relieves a lot of pressure and gives more time to focus on training and the game. It’s conducive to fans being congregated in smaller areas. It will be nothing more than one hour from one venue to the other.”
The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee operates out of and monitors venue progress from Al Bidda Tower. (WFI)To ensure these massive projects are on track, Qatar 2022 can remotely monitor each of these construction sites via a live camera feed capable of zooming in with great detail to all parts of the site. The feed is available in the SC control room located in Al Bidda Tower, or via a smartphone app.
The Supreme Committee for Development and Legacy, which is overseeing 2022 World Cu construction projects, also uses this technology to monitor the health and safety of those working on these projects.
“We make sure these live cams that capture and store everything are at a fingertips away from us to be able to make sure that if there is an incident we can go back and see what the incident was and how it happened so we can rectify it and have an accurate understanding of what happened,” said Khater.
Human rights groups have raised major concerns about the working and living conditions of migrant workers in Qatar.
Cranes stretch out across the Doha skyline (WFI)“We’ve been working relentlessly on making sure our projects are adhering to international standards and in most cases I think the standards are even higher than what is considered the international standard. We have had zero major incidents. We’ve had zero fatalities in any of our projects," says Khater.
Qatar 2022 created a Workers’ Welfare charter in 2014 to ensure the human rights and safety of workers are protected and they receive reasonable training, wages, work hours and accommodations. They have also renovated the workers’ accommodations sites to meet higher standards.
But the controversial Kafala system of tied employment has still not been implemented as promised by the government.
“It’s going to be an uphill battle in terms of improving the public opinion of the World Cup in Qatar, but I think that we are getting there. It’s the biggest challenge for this tournament," said Khater.
"We find that a lot of public perception is formed by individuals and organizations that haven’t been to Qatar. If you come here, you will be able to make an informed opinion instead of relying on what you hear and see in the media,” he continued.
FIFA confirms Spanish Football Federation President under investigation
The President of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Angel Maria Villar was among the list of 11 directors of FIFA who are now under investigation for wronging which was published by the FIFA ethics committee on Wednesday.
Although the exact reason for the investigation has not been made clear, it is thought to be related to the possible purchase of votes in the adjudication of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals, in Russia and Qatar.
Villar, who has been the RFEF President since 1988, is arguably the most powerful man in world football at the moment, given that he is Vice-President of UEFA and FIFA, whose respective Presidents, Michel Platini and Josep Blatter are currently suspended while under investigation for corruption.
Villar is also the President of the refereeing commissions of both organizations and sits on their legal commissions and has been called as a witness at the forthcoming proceedings over the adjudications of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
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