Five officials, including three long-serving FIFA executive committee members, are being investigated in the corruption probe into the bidding contests for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
A person familiar with the cases confirmed the names on Thursday to reporters after the five were identified in European media reports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the FIFA probe is confidential.
The current FIFA board members under investigation are FIFA vice president Angel Maria Villar of Spain, Michel D’Hooghe of Belgium and Worawi Makudi of Thailand.
The others under suspicion are German great Franz Beckenbauer and Harold Mayne-Nicholls of Chile.
Last week, FIFA ethics committee chairmen Michael Garcia and Joachim Eckert said “a number of formal cases” had been opened against unidentified individuals.
FIFA has also filed a criminal complaint to Swiss federal prosecutors against unnamed individuals cited in Garcia’s investigation report, adding to a sense of disarray about the wider World Cup investigation. The probe was revived after Eckert tried to close the cases against Russia and Qatar — a decision Garcia quickly appealed to FIFA.
On Thursday, FIFA said it “cannot confirm or deny any such information” about the five officials named, and referred questions to the ethics panel.
Individuals were identified despite strict confidentiality rules in FIFA’s code of ethics sealing details of who is under investigation, and for which alleged offenses.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has backed Eckert’s view that evidence in a 430-page report submitted by Garcia’s investigations team cannot be disclosed. They cited privacy rights to protect suspects and witnesses.
Some members of FIFA’s board who joined since the World Cup votes are calling for full disclosure. Garcia and UEFA president Michel Platini want “appropriate publication” with some redactions.
Amid the turmoil last week, Garcia and Eckert agreed that FIFA’s independent audit and compliance official Domenico Scala should decide what evidence to give the board to help decide the next steps in a saga that has dogged soccer’s governing body for more than four years.
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