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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
MATT MAJENDIE

FBI reveal new details over bribes for Fifa World Cup 2022 votes

Prosecutors in the United States have revealed new details of bribes taken by Fifa executives in securing the 2022 World Cup for Qatar.

The indictment states Nicolas Leoz, previously head of South American football, and ex-Brazilian federation president Ricardo Teixeira both received bribes to vote for the Middle Eastern state.

In addition, Jack Warner, the former president of CONCACAF, is said to have received as much as $5million (£4m) to vote for Russia as World Cup hosts in 2018.

William F Sweeney, head of the FBI’s New York field office, said: “The profiteering and bribery in international soccer have been deep seated and commonly known practices for decades.

“Over a period of many years, the defendants and their co-conspirators corrupted the governance and business of international soccer with bribes and kickbacks, and engaged in criminal fraudulent schemes to make them appear legitimate.”

Guatemala federation president Rafael Salguero was promised a $1billion (£811m) bribe to vote for Russia as World Cup hosts in 2018, according to the indictment. Leoz died in August, while Warner and Teixeira are both still fighting extradition to the US.

On Tuesday, Fifa announced it would seek further information from the United States Department of Justice regarding the allegations.

A statement from a Fifa spokesperson read: "Fifa supports all investigations into alleged acts of criminal wrongdoing regarding either domestic or international football competitions, and will continue to provide full co-operation to law enforcement officials investigating such matters.

"Fifa is closely following these investigations and all related developments in the legal processes ongoing in the United States and other parts of the world.

"It is important to point out that Fifa has itself been accorded victim status in the US criminal proceedings and senior FIFA officials are in regular contact with the US Department of Justice. Following the latest indictment, Fifa will ask the DOJ for further information on these matters.

"The Fifa ethics committee has already imposed sanctions, including life bans, on football officials mentioned in this process.

"So far as Fifa is concerned, should any acts of criminal wrongdoing by football officials be established, the individuals in question should be subject to penal sanctions.

"As the respective criminal cases are ongoing we are not in a position to comment further for the time being."

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