International Football
SHOCK REVELATION IN COURT: FIFA OFFICIAL TOOK BRIBES TO BACK QATAR’S 2022 WORLD CUP BID
The Guardian of UK has reported that an Argentine senior FIFA official, Julio Grondona, took at least $1m in bribes to vote for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.
The publication reported that a witness make the revelation in court, as part of a broad investigation into corruption at FIFA.
Grondona who was a senior vice-president at FIFA and head of the Argentina Football Association until his death in 2014, allegedly told the witness, Alejandro Burzaco, an Argentinian sports marketing executive, that he was owed the money in exchange for his vote, which helped Qatar secure the lucrative tournament.
Qatar’s victory, announced in December 2010 after four rounds of knockout voting by FIFA’s 22-person executive committee in Zurich, has been plagued with allegations of bribery and misconduct.
The sworn testimony, given in a New York City court on Tuesday, is some of the strongest evidence the 2022 vote was tainted.
Burzaco, the former CEO of the Argentinian sports marketing executive Torneos y Competencias, has already pleaded guilty to handing out millions of dollars in bribes to senior South American football officials in exchange for broadcast rights to major regional tournaments.
His testimony on Tuesday alleges a sustained program of annual and one-off bribes, often over $1m a time, to a group of influential executives on South America’s footballing body, Conmebol, over a period of around a decade.
Burzaco testified that while he was arranging a $1m bribe payment to Grondona and another $1m bribe to another senior FIFA executive, Ricardo Teixeira, Grondona informed Burzaco he had taken a bribe for his World Cup vote.
In total, the former executive said, he had arranged $15m in bribes for securing the rights to Copa America, which at that point were held by a rival marketing company.
Burzaco said that Grondona told him in January 2011 to also pay him Teixeria’s $1m Copa America bribe, which the Brazilian “owed him” as “Grondona voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup”.
The marketing executive had accompanied Grondona, Teixeria and Nicolás Leoz, then the Conmebol president, to Zurich for the vote in 2010 and had heard of their intention to back Qatar. “It was not a private thing,” Burzaco said.
As the voting got under way, Burcazo said Grondona told him that Leoz had initially voted for Japan and then South Korea.
During a break, he and Teixeria then pulled Leoz aside to “shake him up” and ask: “What the hell are you doing? Are you the one not voting for Qatar?” When the officials returned for the next vote, Leoz backed Qatar, Burcazo said.
The former marketing executive said that Grondona had not told him the total amount of money he accepted to make the Qatar vote or who the source of the bribe was.
But he claimed to have witnessed an altercation between Grondona and Qatari officials at a FIFA event months later where the football executive was furious at news reports implicating him in corrupt dealings and insinuated he had been underpaid for his vote.
“Basically, Grondona told them [the Qatari officials]: you will pay me $80m or write a letter saying you never paid me,” Burcazo said.
Burcazo’s evidence portrayed the Argentinian executive as a kingmaker in Conmebol’s allegedly corrupt enterprise.
The marketing executive said Grondona personally approved the bribes he and five other senior Conmebol officials were paid for regional tournament rights, often dictating the amounts – frequently seven-figure sums – and taking cuts for himself.
Burcazo would frequently travel with Grondona from Argentina to Conmebol’s headquarters in Luque in Paraguay, where “three or four Mercedes” would wait for them by the runway and take them straight from the plane, allowing them to skip customs, as “someone would take care of that”.
When Grondona arrived at the headquarters, Leoz would fly “forty or fifty Argentine flags around the building” to greet him. Teixeria, who resigned as president of Brazil’s federation amid corruption allegations in 2012, would receive the same treatment.
Burzaco’s testimony, which is expected to continue into Wednesday, also implicated the three former football executives, José Maria Marin, Manuel Burga and Juan Ángel Napout, currently on trial.
The three former officials, some of whom went on to replace Grondona, Teixeria and Leoz at the head of Conmebol, deny their role in the 24-year scheme involving at least $150m in bribes.
As his testimony commenced on Tuesday morning, Burzaco was asked to point out the three defendants in the courtroom while testifying that he bribed all of them.
The witness described a series of meeting at hotels and restaurants in Buenos Aires starting in 2012 in which he helped strike deals for annual six-figure bribes for Marin, who replaced Teixeria as president of Brazil’s soccer federation; Burga, former president of Peru’s soccer federation; and Napout, ex-head of Paraguay’s soccer federation.
After one meeting where arrangements were made to wire Marin a portion of a $2m bribe, Marin “gave me a hug and showed me his gratitude”, Burzaco said. At another, Burga “told me he was happy collecting the bribes”, he said.
After being charged in 2015, following a morning raid on a hotel in Zurich, Burzaco testified that he briefly went into hiding before deciding to turn himself in and cooperate.
“I said, ‘Alejandro, you go to the United States and face justice,’” he said about the decision. “‘Accept responsibility.’”
The former marketing executive also claimed that several of the region’s best-known broadcasters that he had partnered with had paid bribes to football officials to secure rights to games.
This included Fox Sports, partnered with Burzaco in the T&T sports marketing company, which owned the rights to the Copa Libertadores. Fox held a 75% share of T&T from 2005, Burzaco said.
The court was presented with a sham contract written by T&T Sports and signed by the former Fox Pan American Sports chief operating officer James Ganley, which Burzaco said created to pay out $3.7m in bribes to Conmebol officials to keep the rights to the tournament.
Fox Sports denied that the company had been aware of or approved bribes, saying in a statement: “Fox Sports had no operational control of the entity which Burzaco ran.
The entity run by Burzaco was a subsidiary of Fox Pan American Sports, which in 2008, at the time of the contract in question, was majority owned by a private equity firm and under their operational and management control.”
International Football
BREAKING – Video: Osimhen accepts to join Galatasaray
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/osimhen-jubilates.jpg)
At last, Nigeria’s striker Victor Osimhen is out of the limbo. He has accepted to join Galatasaray on loan.
He is now asking for a release clause at Napoli to become €75m instead of €130m
He also wants a break clause for January in case top clubs approach him over move.
The final points are being discussed. He has been videoed celebrating with the Turkey club’s fans.
International Football
Uruguay striker Suarez to play last international match on Friday
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2161934515-scaled-e1725270615569-1024x683-1.jpg)
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez announced his international retirement on Monday, ending a 17-year career with his national team as their top scorer with 69 goals.
The 37-year-old, who has 142 caps for his country, made his international debut in 2007 and was key in the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and won the Copa America a year later.
“Friday will be my last match with my country’s national team,” an emotional Suarez told a press conference.
“The fact that is my decision to retire and that I’m not retired because of injuries or that they stop calling me for one thing or another, that gives me a lot of comfort, it helps me individually.
“It’s difficult but it gives me peace of mind that until the last game I have given my all, and that flame has not been extinguished little by little,” the striker added.
Uruguay take on Paraguay at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo on Friday in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup before facing Venezuela four days later.
Suarez scored the stoppage-time goal against Canada that secured third place at the Copa America in July and the striker added that one of his aims was to show he could continue to contribute to the national team.
“My dream was for my children to see me win something important with the national team … that last goal was very nice for them and even though it wasn’t a trophy to take home, it was very nice for them,” he said.
“I wanted to show people again that I can continue to contribute to the national team and, well, I had the Copa America and yes, I could have done it (retired) perfectly after that, but having analysed the situation, I want to do it with my people, in my stadium.
“I want my children to live this experience. Saying goodbye with the people here is something that I don’t know if many have done.”
Suarez has already said Inter Miami will be his last club after joining the Major League Soccer side last year to reunite with former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
-Reuters
International Football
Quitting Portugal never crossed my mind, says Ronaldo
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/34P2HEWYWJOKBFGYISOZT244ZE.jpg)
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo dismissed suggestions he had considered ending his international career in the near future, adding that post-Euro criticism did not worry him.
Portugal host Croatia in their Nations League opener on Thursday before welcoming Scotland in League A Group One on Sunday.
“That’s all from the press. It never crossed my mind that my cycle (with Portugal) had come to an end. Quite the opposite: it gave me even more motivation to continue to be honest,” Ronaldo told a press conference on Monday.
“The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League … We’ve already won it once and we want to do it again. I might say the same thing over and over again, but I don’t think long term, it’s always short term.”
Ronaldo captained Portugal to success in the opening edition of the Nations League in 2018-19, three years after they became European Champions for the first time in France.
“Until the end of my career, I will always have the mindset that I will be a starter,” Ronaldo added.
“What I feel at the moment, and the coach’s (Roberto Martinez) words also demonstrate this, is that I continue to be an asset to the national team and I will be the first (to admit it) if that isn’t the case.
“When I’m (no longer) an asset I will be the first to leave. But I will go with a clear conscience, as always, because I know who I am, what I can do, what I do and what I will continue to do.”
The 39-year-old appeared untroubled by criticism he faced for failing to score at the 2024 European Championship.
“Criticism is great because if it doesn’t exist there’s no progress. It’s always been like this. Is it going to change now? It won’t,” Ronaldo said.
“So I try to follow my path, be as professional as possible, help in the best way possible with my professionalism and not just with goals, assists, discipline, and example, because football is much more than just playing well or scoring a goal.
“The people who give their opinions have never been in a locker room, and I often laugh because it’s the same thing as me talking about Formula 1.
“How can I give my opinion on Formula 1 if I don’t know anything about tires, rims or the weight of the car … It’s normal and that’s why for me criticism is good and part of it, it’s no problem at all.”
-Reuters
-
TRANSFER MARKET3 days ago
Points of Interest as Napoli’s coach apologises to Victor Osimhen
-
Badminton1 week ago
American beats Nigeria’s Segun Obasanjo
-
TRANSFER MARKET1 week ago
Transfer market still bubbling as Chelsea agents lands in Napoli for Osimhen
-
TRANSFER MARKET1 week ago
BREAKING! Osimhen is left stranded! Future remains uncertain
-
TRANSFER MARKET5 days ago
Lukaku pays respect to Osimhen
-
Nigerian Football1 week ago
As in 1974 , 1995 and 2005 another coach, Labbadia disappears from Nigeria’s national team job
-
PARALYMPICS5 days ago
How Mikano powered Eniola to Nigeria’s first medal at Paris 2024
-
AFCON1 week ago
Interim Commander, Eguavoen opens up on his plans for Super Eagles