\nSaturday 30 May 2015 – theguardian.com<\/A><\/I><\/p>\n
Newly re-elected Fifa president Sepp Blatter has launched an astonishing attack on the US justice system and the British media in the wake of the string of bribery charges against senior officials that plunged world football into chaos last week.<\/p>\n
As he denied being the unnamed high-ranking official who authorised the payment of a $10m bribe to disgraced former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, as alleged in last week\u2019s US indictment, Blatter targeted his enemies and warned: \u201cI forgive but I don\u2019t forget.\u201d
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\nEmboldened after being re-elected for a fifth term in office, he turned on his accusers and claimed that the timing of the raid by the Swiss police, who have been cooperating with a long-running FBI investigation, was designed to remove him from office and motivated by revenge.<\/p>\n
Swiss police swooped on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on Wednesday and arrested seven senior Fifa executives, including vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo, prompting a renewed wave of furious calls for reform and for Blatter\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n
US federal investigators have said that last week\u2019s arrests and indictment was only the beginning of their investigation and Richard Weber, head of the Internal Revenue Service, said further arrests were likely.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fairly confident that we will have another round of indictments,\u201d he told the New York Times. \u201cWe strongly believe there are other people and entities involved in criminal acts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 79-year-old Blatter said that the US arrests and charges \u2013 which accused a total of 18 executives of 47 counts of money laundering, racketeering and tax evasion linked to kickbacks totalling more than $150m over two generations \u2013 were timed to damage his chances of re-election.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is going to tell me that it was a simple coincidence, this American attack two days before the elections of Fifa. It doesn\u2019t smell right. This has touched me and Fifa,\u201d said Blatter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are signs that cannot be ignored. The Americans were the candidates for the World Cup of 2022 and they lost. The English were the candidates for 2018 and they lost, so it was really the English media and the American movement.\u201d<\/p>\n
His attack on the US authorities and the British media, which also extended to what he called a hate campaign by European football governing body Uefa, had echoes of Russian president Vladimir Putin\u2019s claim that the arrests were an attempt to undermine Blatter and destabilise the 2018 World Cup.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, a Kremlin spokesman offered congratulations on Blatter\u2019s re-election, which will take his tenure to 21 years if he serves a full four-year term. \u201cPutin expressed certainty that Blatter\u2019s experience, professionalism and high level of authority will further allow him to spread the geographical reach and popularity of football,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As the Fifa executive committee met for the first time since Blatter\u2019s victory over his challenger, the Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, Blatter said he believed the arrests and subsequent media coverage were a co-ordinated attempt to \u201cdenigrate\u201d him and force him out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they have a financial crime that regards American citizens, then they must arrest these people there and not in Zurich when we have a congress in Zurich. The United States, it is the main sponsor of the Hashemite kingdom [Jordan],\u201d he railed. \u201cThis corruption affair is between North America and South America. It was taken to Zurich and they say it is Fifa.\u201d<\/p>\n
US authorities said that the raid was timed to precede the Fifa congress because that was when all of those targeted were in Zurich.<\/p>\n
At a combative press conference, Blatter said he was unafraid of arrest and attempted to argue that Fifa had done its best to root out corruption. Blatter, who joined Fifa in 1975 when it had just 12 employees, stuck to his claim that the problem was with rogue individuals rather than the organisation\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n
Since his election as president in 1998, itself marred by bribery claims, there have been allegations of corruption surrounding almost every major decision made since.<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s indictment by the US authorities covered claims of bribery in selecting the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2011 presidential election, while Swiss authorities simultaneously seized documents and bank details concerning the controversial bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.<\/p>\n
Yet Blatter insisted that he had tried to root out corruption through Fifa\u2019s network of disciplinary and ethics committees: \u201cWe tried always in my tenure of office to eliminate all these elements or individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he admitted to concern over unrest from World Cup sponsors that bankroll Fifa to the tune of $400m a year, and said meetings were planned with Visa, which has threatened to withdraw if there is no meaningful reform.<\/p>\n
Blatter stuck to a familiar script, arguing that he was the best man to repair Fifa\u2019s battered reputation. \u201cWe will make strides forward to take our boat back into calmer waters and finally take the Fifa ship into a situation of tranquillity and happiness, with a strong Fifa and a beautiful Fifa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He was challenged over the $10m payment allegedly routed from a Fifa account in Switzerland to a Bank of America account in New York controlled by Warner. \u201cThis is a problem I do not enter. We will not go further. The only thing I can say is I have no $10m,\u201d he said, adding that he had no fear of arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Americans are making investigations: they have right to do so, I have no concerns; I especially have no concerns about my person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uefa executives, who opposed Blatter\u2019s re-election and backed Prince Ali, will meet in Berlin this week before the Champions League final to decide their next move.<\/p>\n
FA chairman Greg Dyke has said that England could back a World Cup boycott if it was part of a coordinated action, while former Manchester United chief executive David Gill refused to take up his position as a Fifa vice-president in protest at Blatter\u2019s re-election.<\/p>\n
Blatter criticised Gill\u2019s decision and also turned on Uefa president Michel Platini, who had led calls for his former mentor to step down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe journalists made a deal: Blatter out. It is a hatred not only by one person at Uefa but by the organisation of Uefa that has not accepted that I have been president since 1998. I forgive everyone but I don\u2019t forget,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Source: www.theguardian.com\/football\/2015\/may\/30\/sepp-blatter-accuses-us-and-british-media-campaign-topple<\/A><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Re-elected Fifa president claims timing of arrests of officials had been motivated by revenge By Owen Gibson in Zurich Saturday 30 May 2015 – theguardian.com Newly re-elected Fifa president Sepp Blatter has launched an astonishing attack on the US justice system and the British media in the wake of the string of bribery charges against … Continue reading Blatter accuses US authorities and British press of campaign to topple him<\/span>