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Beckenbauer writes off Bayern's title chances Franz Beckenbauer has all but written off Bayern Munich's chances of defending the Bundesliga title. cbc.ca |
BBC accuses three Fifa men of taking bribes in $100m scandal • England 2018 bid crisis deepened by Panorama claims• Fresh allegations against Jack Warner over World Cup ticketsThree of the Fifa executive committee members who will decide the fate of the 2018 World Cup were tonight accused of taking bribes in a corruption scandal involving around $100m (£64.2m) of secret payments. The BBC's Panorama documentary, the timing of which had been branded "unpatriotic" by bid executives before broadcast and "frustrating" by the prime minister, David Cameron, also contained fresh allegations against the Concacaf president, Jack Warner, concerning a ticketing scandal linked to the 2010 World Cup.Warner and the three votes he controls are seen as key to England's hopes of progressing beyond the first round and Prince William, David Beckham and Cameron – the bid's "three lions", as the chief executive, Andy Anson, called them – will be called upon to try to limit the damage. Cameron will arrive in Zurich tomorrow and is expected to meet Warner, who has been scathing in his criticism of the BBC documentary.Critics of the timing of the programme tonight insisted that the strength and topicality of the new allegations did not justify broadcasting it three days before the vote – particularly as the claims had nothing to do with the bidding process.England 2018 also condemned the programme, calling it "an embarrassment" to the BBC. They said in a statement: "We stand by our previous position that the BBC's Panorama did nothing more than rake over a series of historical allegations none of which are relevant to the current bidding process. It should be seen as an embarrassment to the BBC."Warner, embroiled in an earlier ticketing scandal at the 2006 World Cup, was tonight alleged to have ordered tickets costing $84,240 from the Fifa ticket office for the 2010 tournament, only for the deal to fall through.On the back of the Sunday Times investigation that led to the suspension of six Fifa officials but created a climate of suspicion among the electorate, the Panorama allegations are likely to lead to further hostility against the British media.The claims will lead to renewed calls for Fifa to answer outstanding questions over the International Sports and Leisure (ISL) affair, which triggered one of Switzerland's biggest criminal fraud cases, and justify the continued presence of the individuals concerned on its executive committee.One of the three, Cameroon's Issa Hayatou, who has never been named before in connection with the affair, appears on a detailed list of 175 alleged secret payments, made betweeen 1989 and 1999, from the defunct sports marketing company ISL, routed via a series of front companies in Liechtenstein to top Fifa officials. Hayatou, once seen as a key target for England, was understood to have reacted furiously to the earlier Sunday Times investigation and the three‑year suspension handed down to Adamu and will be further angered by the latest allegations.The Paraguayan head of the South American football federation, Nicolás Léoz, also on the list, was named in connection with two ISL payments totalling $130,000 during court proceedings in 2008 but Panorama alleged that he received three further payments of $200,000 each. He was lobbied only last week by the England bid team. The payments list shows that a Liechtenstein company, Sanud, received $9.5m. Ricardo Teixeira, head of the Brazilian Football Confederation, the third executive member named, was linked to Sanud by a 2001 Brazilian Senate investigation which found it had secretly channelled money to him.Six ISL managers were tried in 2008 for misusing company money, but they were not tried for commercial bribery as it was not an offence in Switzerland until 2001.The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, already under fire over the opaque bidding process, declined to comment on the three Fifa executives alleged to have taken bribes.ISL was declared bankrupt in May 2001 but the fallout continued until last June, when the second of two Swiss court cases ended with an agreement to pay £3.5m to settle the case anonymously. At the time Fifa said: "It is important to recall that the decision was made on matters which took place prior to the year 2000 and that there has been no court conviction against Fifa. In addition, the Fifa president has been cleared of any wrongdoing in this matter." Fifa refused to comment tonight.BBC insiders said that there was a strong public interest rationale in showing the film before the vote took place and that they had been editing it right up until the last minute, having acquired the key document only in recent weeks. Anson insisted that although England were "underdogs" he was confident that there was a credible "path to victory" as the last‑minute lobbying intensified. He reiterated his concerns about Panorama. "Of course I'm disappointed with the timing and it's certainly not going to win any votes," said Anson, who said he would not be watching the programme."It's a reality, it's a small group of 23 people; in a way it's a brotherhood of executive committee members. If you hurt one of them, of course it has an impact on the others. That's just inevitable. I don't think that we are going to be derailed by it, we just have to be aware of the implications and act accordingly. But we'd be naïve if we though it would not have an impact."Last night, the watchdog body Transparency International called on Fifa to postpone Thursday's vote after the claims had "cast such discredit on FIFA's processes that a decision under these circumstances would only fan the controversy." However, the Uefa president Michel Platini, one of the 23 voters, insisted last night: "I don't think it will have any effect on the voting, people took their decision a long time ago...it is not important."FifaJack WarnerWorld Cup 2018Owen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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