FIFA executives were paid bribes to vote for the World Cup to be played in Russia and Qatar, according to an indictment published by the United States Department of Justice.
The 69-page indictment, which was unsealed on Monday in Brooklyn, peels back the curtains on how, in 2010, FIFA's executive committee voted for Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Former TV executives from the United States and Spain, along with a sports marketing company in South America, were charged with bribing soccer officials as part of the government's long-running investigation on corruption in organized soccer.
In the indictment, Jack Warner, former CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president, received over $5 million in bribes from Russia to vote for hosting duties in 2018. Rafael Salguero of Guatemala, former member of the FIFA Executive Committee, was also paid to vote for Russia, the U.S. DOJ alleges. Three South American FIFA members, including Nicolas Leoz, former president of CONMEBOL, and Ricardo Teixeira, former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, received bribes to vote for Qatar.
Here's more from the indictment:
For example, the defended Ricardo Teixeira, Nicolas Leoz and co-conspirator #1 were offered and received bribe payments in exchange for their votes in favor of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. In addition, the defendant Jack Warner was promised and received bribe payments totaling $5 million and Rafael Salguero was promised a $1 million bribe in exchange for their votes in favor of Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.
The indictment alleges that Warner received an email from an associate of one of the co-conspirators who is not named, with the following message: "What is agreed is what is being done this week." Warner then received $5 million via more than 20 wire transfers from November 2010 to April 2011 to an account at Republic Bank in Trinidad and Tobago, per the indictment.
The timeline of all of these events fall under former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who was ousted from the federation due to corruption within the organization. He left office in 2015 following the continuing investigation from the DOJ. Warner was banned from FIFA in 2015 for "many and various acts of misconduct." Gianni Infantino is now the president of FIFA after being elected in 2016.
Real the full indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice:
Download the full indictment in PDF format.
