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Sport
Evan Bartlett
May 28, 2015
David Cameron has added his support to calls for Sepp Blatter to stand down following the arrest of six senior Fifa officials on Wednesday.
A Downing Street spokesperson said on Thursday morning: “The FA - and we are squarely behind the FA - supports the candidacy of Prince Ali [bin al-Hussein].”
Other updates from day two of the Fifa scandal:
After cancelling a scheduled media appearance on Thursday morning, Blatter chaired an emergency meeting with continental footballing bodies to "discuss the current situation".
Vladimir Putin has accused the US of meddling with Fifa's affairs and trying to take the 2018 World Cup away from Russia. "This is clearly another case of illegal exterritorial use of US law," he said in a statement.
Several of Fifa's sponsors have expressed concern over the scandal. Visa said it expected the governing body to "take swift and immediate steps" to address the issues and said "unless real changes are made we will reassess our sponsorship". Coca Cola, Nike and Adidas released similarly concerned statements.
Blatter released a statement on Wednesday night saying that while he understood it was a "difficult time for football" he was pleased with the investigation. "We will continue to work with the relevant authorities and we will work vigorously within Fifa in order to root out any misconduct, to regain your trust and ensure that football worldwide is free from wrongdoing," he said.
Uefa, the governing body of the game in Europe, has called for Friday's presidential elections to be postponed: "These events show, once again, that corruption is deeply rooted in Fifa's culture. There is a need for the whole of Fifa to be 'rebooted' and for a real reform to be carried out."
Everything else we know so far:
- Six senior officials from football's governing body Fifa have been arrested on suspicion of corruption.
Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, is not one of those who has been arrested although police are expected to question him.
The officials were arrested in a Zurich hotel at dawn and are being held by Swiss police at the request of the US department of justice. Fifa officials are in Zurich for elections to determine the next president.
Police said they are suspected of bribes totalling more than $150m dating back to 1991.
Fifa said on Wednesday evening it has "provisionally banned 11 individuals from carrying out any football-related activities on a national and international level" on the basis of the investigations.
The investigation is also assessing bribery and corruption in connection with the allocation of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as well as the 2011 Fifa presidential election.
The bribery suspects are said to be "representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms".
The Fifa officials are all facing possible extradition to the US as the charges are backed by an FBI investigation.
A Swiss Federal Office of Justice statement said: “It is believed that they received media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America. According to the US request, these crimes were agreed and prepared in the US, and payments were carried out via US banks.”
A separate Swiss investigation has seen criminal proceedings opened against "persons unknown" on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
As part of the investigation electronic data and documents were seized at Fifa's head office in Zurich.
A press conference was held by Fifa’s director of communications and public affairs Walter De Gregorio (pictured above) at 10am on Wednesday.
He said the investigation was initiated by Fifa in November 2014 when the governing body lodged a legal complaint with the federal attorney.
This complaint was "to do with the attribution of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups" - and included the handing over of files from the investigation of US investigator Michael Garcia which was commissioned by Fifa but not released to the public.
What else is being said
Attorney general Loretta Lynch (above), who is leading the US investigation, said: "The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the US. It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks."
A law enforcement source told the New York Times: "We’re struck by just how long this went on for and how it touched nearly every part of what Fifa did. It just seemed to permeate every element of the federation and was just their way of doing business. It seems like this corruption was institutionalised."
Transparency International, the anti-corruption NGO, has called for Blatter to stand down: “These scandals have taken place under Sepp Blatter’s watch of Fifa, which spans almost two decades. For the sake of the fans, and good governance of football, it is time for him to step down. The elections for president are not credible if they are tainted with these allegations by the highest prosecuting authorities."
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, the Fifa vice president who is the only challenger to Blatter in Friday's election, said: "We cannot continue with the crisis in Fifa."
FA chairman Greg Dyke released the following statement: "We should stress this morning's developments are very serious for Fifa and its current leadership. As one of the associations who nominated Prince Ali it will not surprise you to learn that if the election for president goes ahead the FA will be voting for him. However, there must be a question mark over whether the election should take place in these circumstances."
Here's what else has been reported:
The most senior of those arrested is Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb, who is also head of Concacaf.
The US justice department confirmed that the other Fifa officials arrested include Eugenio Figueredo, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, José Maria Marin and Nicolás Leoz. Fourteen people have been indicted in total. The other officials include Jack Warner, Costas Takkas and Rafael Esquivel.
Below is a video of Jeffrey Webb speaking ahead of this week's Fifa election:
- Here's what Sepp Blatter had to say about Jeffrey Webb last month:
What we don't know
How the arrests will affect the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. De Gregorio said the World Cups will still go ahead as planned. "Russia and Qatar will be played. That, today [Wednesday], is a fact."
When the much-anticipated Garcia report into corruption will be released to the public. De Gregorio said it will be published when all open investigations have been closed.
- Follow the Independent's live blog here
More: The colourful life of Chuck Blazer - lavish Fifa exec turned informant
More: Everything you need to know about the Fifa corruption arrests
More: [Diego Maradona calls Sepp Blatter a 'dictator' and Fifa a 'playground for the corrupt']11
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