Tuesday, August 24, 2021
US ruling after corruption
FIFA collects $ 201 million in damages
FIFA is the victim of corruption – says the US Attorney General. At the end of many years of investigations and negotiations, the world football association was awarded more than 200 million dollars in damages. Corrupt officials have to “pay” for this.
The attorney general of the USA has awarded the world football association FIFA and other parties a huge amount of damages of 201 million dollars (171 million euros). This was announced by FIFA. The money that flows into the FIFA Foundation is intended to compensate for the losses that the world governing body and the continental associations CONCACAF (North / Central America and the Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America) suffered as a result of criminal offenses.
According to FIFA, the money was “confiscated from the bank accounts of former officials who were involved in years of bribery schemes in football and who were prosecuted for doing so”. The funds will go to the new “World Football Restitution Fund”, which will be used to finance football-related projects for the benefit of communities around the world.
“I am delighted that this money illegally diverted from football is returning to its rightful destination, as it should have been from the start,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who thanked the US judicial authorities: “Thanks to their intervention in 2015 We were able to fundamentally reform the then disreputable association and establish FIFA as a highly valued and trustworthy global sports organization. Fortunately, this unfortunate chapter is now far behind us. ” However, experts see no fundamental change in the culture of the billion dollar association.
Under the leadership of the then chief prosecutor Loretta Lynch, the US Department of Justice had investigated the scandal surrounding the world association against numerous football officials.Since the beginning of the affair in 2015, there have been charges against more than 40 people and numerous convictions in the USA. As a result, the then FIFA President Sepp Blatter was suspended and Infantino, previously UEFA General Secretary, was his successor. Against the new man at the top of FIFA there was and is always the suspicion of unclean business.
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