THE ethics committee of the world football governing body, FIFA, started a thee-day meeting yesterday to probe allegations of corruption and collusion in the race to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, as a new twist to the controversy emerged.
A Swiss newspaper reported yesterday that Qatar's 2022 bid committee recruited a major private investigation agency to probe figures at the centre of reported allegations of collusion between Qatar and Spain-Portugal bids.
England, Russia and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium are in the running to host the 2018 World Cup, alongside Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar, Russia and South Korea for 2022.
The vote by the FIFA executive committee on December 2 to choose the hosts has been clouded by British newspaper’s allegations of possible vote buying and illicit collusion between some of the bidders. FIFA has pledged zero tolerance, suspending two members of the 24-strong executive body, including Nigeria’s Amos Adamu, as well as four other football officials pending the outcome of the ethics probe, which is shrouded in secrecy.
A FIFA spokesperson confirmed that the ethics committee meeting was taking place behind closed doors from yesterday over three days but declined to give further details. The governing body later scheduled a press conference for Thursday.
The daily Tages-Anzeiger reported yesterday that Qatar had asked United States’ giant, Kroll, last month to investigate the "backgrounds, activities and reputations" of FIFA’s former Secretary General, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, and another African official, citing purported memos.
The Sunday Times ran reports and video extracts last month by undercover journalists posing as lobbyists, including one on October 24, with remarks by Zen-Ruffinen about Spain-Portugal and Qatar's bids.
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