The flames of the FIFA scandal seem to be getting ever closer to Sepp Blatter. The New York Times brought allegations that Jerome Valcke, secretary general of FIFA and perhaps the most righthand of Blatter's righthand men, was the man responsible for authorising the $10 million payment at the heart of the current scandal. In response, FIFA denied that Valcke had anything to do with the payment, and placed responsibility with former head of the finance committee Julio Grondona, who died last year.
FIFA tries to pin bribery blame on dead executive, new evidence contradicts their claims
FIFA has claimed that a $10 million payment, which later allegedly went on to be used as a bribe, was handled by the late Julio Grondona rather than current secretary general Jerome Valcke. The evidence suggests otherwise.
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The payments totalling USD 10m were authorised by the then chairman of the Finance Committee and executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations of FIFA ... Neither the Secretary General Jérôme Valcke nor any other member of FIFA’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project.
Makes sense. Grondona — who was president of the Argentine Football Association from 1979 until his death, and described by Blatter as a "lifelong friend" — was generally viewed as a man of ... let's say negotiable morality. He even once offered his World Cup vote to England in exchange for the return of the Falkland Islands, though that was possibly a joke. Exactly the kind of man who might have signed off on this payment, then, and sadly too dead to respond (or sue for libel). Except ...
BOMBSHELL: Letter from South Africa FA to FIFA instructing $10m payment to Warner WAS addressed to Jerome Valcke pic.twitter.com/b0yKBPRAcA
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) June 2, 2015 Oh. Oh dear. We should stress, of course, that the indictment does not allege that Valcke knew the money was going to be used as a bribe, and that Valcke, unlike many others, is not identified as a co-conspirator. FIFA also says that this is standard procedure and that there’s nothing to see here.
Fifa: "Secretary General is the recipient of all letters and requests to the administration and acts in accordance with.. regulations"
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) June 2, 2015 See More:
