A senior FIFA official called into question UEFA president Michel Platini’s bid for soccer’s top job on Tuesday, saying the failure to disclose a multimillion US dollar payment could be seen as a “falsification of accounts.”
FIFA reconfirmed they would vote for a new president on Feb. 26 next year to replace FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the FIFA executive committee confirmed Platini’s bid would not be considered as long as he is suspended.
However, Platini’s chances have nosedived as neither he nor Blatter can explain an irregular payment of 2 million Swiss francs (US$2 million) made in 2011 for advisory work Platini did for FIFA from 1998 to 2002.
Photo: AFP
FIFA Audit and Compliance Committee chairman Domenico Scala told the Financial Times that evidence for the consultancy agreement had not appeared in accounts before the payment, calling it a “serious omission” in an interview on Tuesday.
“Both parties were members of FIFA’s executive committee and knowingly approved each year financial statements, which were incorrect by 2 million Swiss francs. That could be seen as falsification of the accounts,” Scala was quoted as saying.
Scala had appeared to leave the door open for Platini earlier on Tuesday by saying that should his ban be lifted, or expire before the Feb. 26 election, FIFA’s ad-hoc electoral committee “would decide ... on how to proceed with the candidacy concerned.”
A source close to Platini said: “We have the feeling that the election committee has not killed Michel Platini.”
FIFA’s independent ethics committee was yesterday due to make an announcement on the cases of senior officials being investigated, without revealing any names.
Platini had been considered the favorite to replace Blatter, until his suspension.
Alongside Platini, former FIFA vice president Jordanian Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, who lost to Blatter in May’s election, has officially stated his candidacy.
Former Trinidad and Tobago captain David Nakhid, former Switzerland defender Ramon Vega and Asian Football Confederation president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa are also considering running. All candidates must submit their application by Monday.
Soccer’s governing body has been in chaos since Oct. 9, when the ethics committee suspended Blatter, FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke and Platini for 90 days.
The trio were banned from attending Tuesday’s FIFA gathering in Zurich, Switzerland, when acting FIFA president Issa Hayatou attempted to guide FIFA through the latest storm of scandals in Blatter’s absence.
“I was pleased to see unity among the executive committee members during our discussions of reform and its critical importance to our organization,” Hayatou said in a statement.
With Hayatou in charge, the executive committee welcomed preliminary reform proposals to set an age restriction of 74 years and a 12-year maximum tenure for the FIFA presidency.
That would block any repeat of someone matching Blatter’s reign in future, with the 79-year-old having been in charge since 1998.
A final proposal of the reforms is to be presented at the next meeting in Zurich on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.
With Hayatou pledging a commitment to rebuilding FIFA’s battered reputation, the executive committee agreed to change the rules governing investigations.
That means more information could be published in future about the independent ethics committee’s proceedings.
“Increasing the transparency of ethics investigations is just one example of our firm commitment to change,” Hayatou said. “It was also significant that we set the course for the upcoming presidential election.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was