2014 - 2015 Football Thread - Page 733

On May 28 2015 04:49 Boucot wrote:

Is Blatter the Al Capone of football ?

On May 28 2015 09:48 zev318 wrote:


i mean its great that this all happened, but maybe all it'll do is just replace old corrupt officials with...... younger corrupt officials

On May 28 2015 18:00 sneirac wrote:
So, Blatter has cancelled his opening speech for the medical part of the conference (and all other public appearances before the main conference?) and there are rumors that he might not show up until tomorrow.
And for anyone that had any hope, AFC and CAF have announced their opposition to postponing the election and their continued support for Blatter. And while CONMEBOL is rethinking their support and CONCACAF apparently is talking to UEFA, AFC and CAF have 54 and 46 members, the majority is 105.

The only really positive sign is that the sponsors are starting to feel pressured. VISA have announced they are going to "reassess" their position and the rest is at least unhappy.

To help bring corruption charges against some of the most powerful men in world football, prosecutors in the United States convinced a Brazilian sports mogul to confess to a life at the nexus of money, football and graft.

José Hawilla, 71, the founder of sports marketing company Traffic, has spent decades connecting football officials with surging revenues from broadcast and advertising rights, while dodging investigations from Brazilian lawmakers and prosecutors.

Through connections at the top of the Brazilian game, Hawilla has negotiated TV deals for South America's biggest tournaments since 1991, along with nearly half a billion dollars of sponsorships including Nike Inc and the Coca-Cola Co.

His hefty commissions were divvied up as kickbacks for football officials in Brazil and throughout the Americas, Hawilla told U.S. investigators as part of plea deal in which he also agreed to forfeit over $151 million (98 million pounds).

In an indictment released by the Department of Justice on Wednesday, Hawilla was one of four convicted defendants who helped U.S. investigators build their case against 14 top global football officials and sports marketing executives accused of orchestrating more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks.

Hawilla's lawyer told newspaper Folha de S. Paulo that he had pled guilty, remained free in the United States, and was cooperating with investigators there. It was unclear exactly what information he had passed to U.S. officials.

Hawilla's guilty plea and the U.S. graft charges against José Maria Marin, former head of Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), stirred hopes in Brazil that the biggest names in the sport were finally within the law's reach. Anger has been building for years in Brazil over corruption scandals that are battering its economy and souring its politics.

"For a long time, Hawilla was as big as it got in the business, and his influence is still huge," said Pedro Daniel, an advisor to Bom Senso FC, a group of Brazilian football players trying to reform the sport.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg."

HOUSE OF CARDS

A TV presenter in the 1970s, Hawilla used his close relationship with Ricardo Teixeira, who ran the CBF for 23 years before Marin's two-year term, to buy a small-time billboard company in 1980 and build it into one of the world's five biggest sports marketing agencies.

Traffic outgrew Brazil, moving into the negotiation of marketing rights for world football governing body FIFA, and expanding into the United States. Traffic Group's U.S. president, Aaron Davidson, was among those indicted on Wednesday.

In Brazil, Hawilla even managed in the football business what few could do on the field: taking legend Pelé out of the game.

When the three-time World Cup winner's marketing agency missed a shot at a contract for a Brazilian football tournament in the early 1990s, he told Playboy magazine in an interview that he had lost to Traffic because of corruption.

Teixeira sued Pelé, who was marginalized from CBF business and the ceremonies surrounding the 1994 World Cup, the fourth won by Brazil.

"Pelé was a persona non grata with the national team because of Hawilla's scheme. That shows you who was running the CBF's business under Ricardo Teixeira," said Leandro Cipoloni, an investigative journalist and co-author of The Dirty Side of football, a book on the corruption scandals sullying the Brazilian game. "Now the house of cards is coming down," he said.

Teixeira and Hawilla could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for Pelé did not reply to a request for comment.

Teixeira left the CBF in 2012 amid criticism over his preparations for the 2014 World Cup, which Brazil hosted, and a police investigation into reports that he had taken million of dollars in bribes from a sports marketing firm. Teixeira denied the allegations and was not charged for any wrongdoing.

In 1996, Traffic negotiated a $369 million deal between Nike and the Brazilian national team, at the time one of the biggest sponsorships ever, which helped the U.S. company break the grip of rival Adidas AG on the global football industry.

A Senate commission investigation in 2000 found that Traffic got a 5 percent commission on the Nike deal, making millions for an intermediary role that senators leading the probe called unnecessary.

Hawilla paid half of the money he made on a 1996 sportswear sponsorship to an unnamed "high-ranking CBF official," according to the charges that U.S. prosecutors made public on Wednesday, based on testimony from Hawilla's plea bargain.

The indictment did not name Nike but the details matched the 1996 deal. Nike said on Wednesday said that it was cooperating with authorities on the allegations.

Traffic also played an intermediary role on Coca-Cola's $8 million CBF sponsorship in 1994, pocketing 20 percent of the contract, according to the Senate investigation in Brazil.

The commission's findings did not lead to charges over the alleged graft.

Coca-Cola called on FIFA on Wednesday to increase transparency and resolve the controversy.

Broadcast and marketing rights for international competitions were even more lucrative than Brazilian events, leaving room for hefty bribes, according to U.S. prosecutors.

They say Traffic and its partners paid $100 million in bribes to South American football officials for a 2013 contract securing rights to the Copa America international competition in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2023.

Hawilla, who has spent less time on the daily business at Traffic and more time in the United States in recent years, has avoided serious legal troubles in Brazil.

Prosecutors in Sao Paulo, where Traffic has an office, said their records on the company are confidential.

May 27 World Cup sponsor Nike Inc said on Wednesday it was cooperating with authorities after bribery and corruption charges against senior FIFA officials were announced by U.S. prosecutors and arrests were made in Switzerland.

U.S. prosecutors issued an indictment accusing nine officials from soccer's world governing body and five sports media and promotions executives of bribes involving more than $150 million over 24 years.

The indictment also said that in 1996, a global sports company, which was not identified in court documents, agreed to pay $160 million over 10 years to become the Brazil team's exclusive footwear, apparel, accessories, and equipment supplier. That was an apparent reference to Nike Inc, which sponsored the Brazil national team.

The indictment said the company had agreed to financial terms not in the initial contract, which included paying an additional $40 million to an affiliate of the team's marketing agent with a Swiss bank account and referring to the amount as "marketing fees."

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was asked at a news conference if there was any liability for companies that had won marketing rights and if they were being investigated.

Lynch said she could not comment on specifics of who else was a target or subject of the investigation "except to say that the investigation is continuing and covers all aspects."

She declined to comment when asked if one of the companies was Nike.

Later on, Nike said in a statement, "Like fans everywhere we care passionately about the game and are concerned by the very serious allegations."

"Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery. We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities," the company said.

Nike did not respond to a request for comment beyond its statement.

OTHER SPONSORS BRISTLE

German sportswear company Adidas and beverage company Coca-Cola Co called on FIFA to increase transparency and resolve the controversy.

"This lengthy controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations," Coca Cola said in a statement.

Anheuser-Busch InBev and McDonald's Corp said they were in contact with FIFA and monitoring the situation.

World Cup sponsors are in an awkward position, experts said, because they are under pressure from consumers to distance themselves from any corruption, but such sponsorships are lucrative in the long term.

"The value of the sponsorships is very high or they wouldn't be prepared to pay so much for it," said Interbrand Chief Executive Jez Frampton. "Football is one of the few global properties that enables you to connect with people around the world."

Rob Prazmark, president of 21 Sports & Entertainment Marketing Group, a global sports and event sales agency said companies were unlikely to pull their sponsorships altogether.