Corrupt gentleman’s club and occasional international football organisation FIFA has recognised for the first time that officials and executives sold votes in World Cup hosting contests. It’s not an entirely noble admission though – they’re only putting themselves out there in an attempt to get tens of millions of dollars worth of bribes back from the officials that offered them.
The Swiss organisation filed a restitution request in a New York court on Tuesday, which read “The defendants […] deeply tarnished the FIFA brand and impaired FIFA’s ability to use its resources for positive actions throughout the world.”
This is a move from Gianna Infantino, the FIFA president elected last month, who was installed to unpick the incredibly complex web of corrupt conduct and dirty money thats hung around the organisation like a bad smell for so long.
He spoke on the bribery in the United States, saying:
“These dollars were meant to build football fields, not mansions and pools; to buy football kits, not jewellery and cars; and to fund youth player and coach development, not to underwrite lavish lifestyles for football and sports marketing executives.”
We’ll see how all this goes.
Source: BBC News
Image: Getty Images / Tony Marshall
