In the furore about local football and the appointment of a normalisation committee by Fifa, a proper appreciation of Fifa and its workings is missing. To accuse Fifa and its inner core of corruption is like accusing a tiger of having stripes: it is there, so what? Fifa can best …
Read More »US DoJ: Warner ‘defrauded’ Caribbean, South Africa and T&T while serving in Cabinet
At roughly the same time that Jack Warner was offering crime-fighting tips in Trinidad and Tobago as acting prime minister and minister of works and infrastructure, he was, according to the United States Department of Justice, engaged in wire fraud, money laundering and bribery in his more illustrious portfolio as …
Read More »Omertà (part fourteen): Blatter’s Fingers Crossed Behind His back
Says he wants to publish damning report… June 24, 2010: THE TIMING was brilliant. I don’t believe the prosecutors in Zug conspired with FIFA to release their statement as the first round of the World Cup in South Africa was ending and the eyes of fans were on teams advancing …
Read More »Omertà (part thirteen): How the FIFA crooks got away with it
In secret, they confess… Zug, September 21, 2009: FIFA President Sepp Blatter swallowed his pride and travelled in his chauffeured black Mercedes from his luxurious office high above Zurich to the austere lakeside office in Zug of the Chief Prosecutor, Christian Aebi. Blatter’s driver was probably wise enough not to …
Read More »Omertà (part eleven): Hildbrand’s Game of Two Halves
Investigating the Bribe Master and the Bag Man THE ARROGANT OLD MAN in Rio, now aged 94, refused to admit his guilt, refused to say sorry for his quarter century of stealing millions from world football, refused to give back those millions. Castor Andrade never said sorry. Why should he? …
Read More »Omertà (part eight): How Blatter keeps Power at FIFA
Chapter 8: Sepp buys votes with FIFA’s money JACK STEALS. He is a career thief and it has made him a multi-millionaire. To hide his stealing, he lies. He lies to his colleagues in football, he employs a bookkeeper in his homeland to pose as an auditor and lie for …
Read More »Omertà (Part five): Looting Brazilian Football
Chapter five: Ricardo’s favourite shoemaker IF YOU BELIEVE Ricardo, he discovered the world’s most generous bank. It was located in Vaduz, in Europe, it lent him millions and charged interest, in the words of the Senator Alvaro Dias investigation, ‘absurdly below market rates.’ In fact, he never paid any interest …
Read More »Omertà (Part four): At Last! The Secret Bribes List
Chapter 4: How Mobsters João and Ricardo got rich Baur au Lac hotel,Zurich October 2010 ‘Mr Teixeira, Mr ‘Teixeira!’ Ricardo turns to look. It is a scruffy, grey-haired man in a Joe Colombo-style beige raincoat shouting at him from the hotel gateway. ‘Mr Teixeira, did you take your bribes through …
Read More »Omertà (Part Three): Havelange’s Golden Briefcase
Chapter 3: Havelange’s Golden Briefcase: Why is it so heavy when he leaves Zurich? ZURICH AIRPORT, anytime, 1974-1998. The easy thing for Rudi the chauffeur was meeting and greeting the FIFA President when his plane arrived from Paris. Havelange loved to stay a day or more in Paris on his …
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