Ex FIFA official speaks out on World Cup scandal

Former FIFA General Secretary Michel Zen- Ruffinen told AFP on Sunday that he had the impression some FIFA executive committee members “could be influenced” in the race to host the World Cup.

Britain’s The Sunday Times reported that Zen-Ruffinen had identified who could take money in exchange for votes on bids to host football’s World Cup in 2018 and 2022 with undercover reporters who were posing as lobbyists.

Zen-Ruffinen, now a lawyer and football agent, told AFP he was outraged at being tricked and insisted that he had not directly introduced those members to the fake lobbyists who claimed they were working for the US bid.

Nonetheless he said that there was an underlying issue that still needed to be tackled.

“The problem is that there is manifestly — as (FIFA president Sepp) Blatter has said — an endemic problem in terms of corruption in sports and also in politics,” explained Zen-Ruffinen, who left world football’s governing body eight years ago.

“The stakes are enormous. It’s extremely difficult to eradicate it, I think the only solution when a case like that occurs is to have an external body tackle it, it’s too difficult to deal with that internally.”

FIFA has provisionally suspended two senior officials and launched its own investigation over alleged World Cup vote selling ahead of the announcement of the winning host countries for 2018 and 2022 on December 2.

Zen-Ruffinen, FIFA’s manager until 2002, said he was taking advice about legal action against the newspaper after becoming embroiled in an elaborate sting.

“I consider that their behaviour was as bad as those who accepted to take money for votes,” he told AFP.

“I have let FIFA know that what I said on this affair was not at all destined for the general public, but for a company with which I had a consultancy contract.”

Zen-Ruffinen left FIFA in 2002 after being forced out in a row with Blatter over detailed allegations the then general secretary made of financial impropriety at the governing body.

Zen-Ruffinen described how he had been recruited in writing by the undercover reporters — whom he thought represented a communications agency — to give professional advice for the US bid campaign, including on each of FIFA’s 24 strong executive committee and their possible voting intentions.

During a meeting with the fake lobbyists in Geneva he identified a “small number” of members whom he felt might be swayed, based on his previous experience at world football’s governing body.

“After what happened eight years ago I have the impression that some people on the committee can be influenced,” he explained.

“The proof is in what happened in Cairo when they went to see the people themselves,” Zen-Ruffinen added.

He nonethless insisted he was opposed to discussing ways of influencing those officials and did not introduce them to the so-called lobbyists.

“The only person I saw with them was very correct, they said ‘no, if you want to discuss financial support by people for academies, etc, you mustn’t do it with me, that has to be done with the federations,” Zen-Ruffinen said.

The former FIFA number two said he became suspicious after being told that the fake lobbyists were making strange offers.

Shortly afterwards, earlier this month, he said he received an e-mail in which they revealed they were undercover journalists.

Zen Ruffinen said he was meant to be paid up to 120,000 euros for his consultancy services by December, and double the amount if the US bid succeeded, but was never paid.

“I have a recruitment letter from the managing director of the firm.”