Play-the-game-Magazine-2002.qxd 11-06-2003 11:41 Side 6 THE SOCCER DRAMA GOES ON The months after "Play the game" brought new important chap- ters to the drama about FIFA in which its president Sepp Blatter and the British reporter Andrew Jennings from the Daily Mail play important - though very different - roles. A football leader December The authorities in Zürich legal proceedings against Blatter due to lack of evidence. Blatter had been reported to the police in May by 11 of 24 members of the FIFA Executive Committee as with rare courage a reaction to a report on alleged irregularities written by the then secretary general, Michel Zen-Ruffinen. The prosecutor in Zürich says that the Executive Committee had approved of some of the actions that Blatter was accused of. He When a handful of international soccer leaders also states that some of the actions may have been considered irregular in other company types than FIFA. According to the suddenly pulled out, Jim Stjerne Hansen gave a crown witness Zen-Ruffinen, he himself was never questioned during the police investigation. last-minute accept to oppose the critics of FIFA January When questioned by Andrew Jennings about ballot rigging at By Steen Bille the FIFA presidential elections in 1998 and 2002, Sepp Blatter admits that "mistakes had been made and now I will take action." An internal investigation is set up against Jack Warner, ne of Play the game's most lively Jim Stjerne Hansen took Jennings and president of CONCACAF and a close ally of Blatter. sessions featured the testimonies Weinreich's disclosures calmly, then de- of two investigative journalists – fended the DBU's support for Blatter March O A local Swiss court orders Somalia's FA boss Farah Addo to pay Andrew Jennings from the Daily Mail with these words: damages to FIFA President Sepp Blatter for defamation. Addo and Jens Weinreich of Berliner Zeitung – »We found that the African opponent, must pay Blatter $7,500 compensation after claiming that bri- detailing corruption and intrigue in inter- Issa Hayatou, did not present a real alter- bery had assisted the FIFA president's re-election in 1998. national football. Their stories documen- native. Besides, FIFA has many good ted a quagmire of bribes, corruption and things to offer – it has built up football March dubious financial transactions, which, ac- into the most popular and profitable Andrew Jennings writes in the Daily Mail that Blatter has recei- cording to their evidence, are all part of a sport in the world.« ved a secret annual payment of around 3,600,000 Euro a year day's work for international football's go- Before Jim Stjerne Hansen's address, on top of his generous salary since 1997. This payment should verning body, FIFA. both Jennings and Weinreich had piled have been ordered by FIFA's ex- president Joao Havelange as Faced with these charges, a number of one revelation on top of another – includ- a "loyalty bonus". FIFA defenders chose to cancel their at- ing stories of committee members wan- tendance a few days before the confe- ted by the police for fraud in Argentina, March rence began – adding to the substantial Brazil and Russia, the buying of votes, fi- FIFA and Sepp Blatter decide to take legal action against An- number of soccer leaders from FIFA and nancial irregularities, widespread fa- drew Jennings and the Daily Mail for their writings. The case will UEFA who had said no to public debate vours for friends, and manipulation of FI- be brought to a British court. in the first place. FA's influential committees. In addition, However, despite being well aware Jennings maintained that Blatter used April that he would face criticism from both the FIFA resources to finance his own Andrew Jennings and the Daily Mail disclose that president audience and the panel, one man from successful election campaign. Blatter has appointed an associate of 40 years standing to in- the football establishment was willing to Fraud was also the subject of Jens We- vestigate the election fraud. The head of investigation is Marcel appear to the conference at just a few inreich's disclosures regarding the bank- Mathier who chairs FIFA's Disciplinary Committee and, like hours' notice. That man was Jim Stjerne ruptcy of FIFA's marketing company ISL Blatter, grew up in the Swiss canton of Valais Hansen, General Secretary of the Danish in 2001. Despite realising a vast income If you want to be updated on the further chapters of Football Association (DBU) – which, last through the sale of global contracts and this story, you can join the Sports Intelligence Unit at April, supported the re-election of FIFA TV rights, Weinreich claims that ISL's www.play-the-game.org President Sepp Blatter. profits were squandered through finan- Play the game 2002 6 Play-the-game-Magazine-2002.qxd 11-06-2003 11:41 Side 7 cial speculation, the provision of consul- have power, football can no longer be de- allies of Sepp Blatter find themselves tancy jobs for friends, and the draining of scribed as a 'beautiful game'. charged with corruption, human rights cash into secret bank accounts. violations and other irregularities in their Today, FIFA has founded a new mar- In his presentation, sports editor Jens native countries. keting firm, designed to make money Weinreich presented important back- You can find the interventions at through the promotion of all the large ground information about the relation www.play-the-game.org FIFA events. As a journalist who has in- between the bankrupt ISL/ISMM group vestigated FIFA for many years, Jennings and FIFA. summarised his and Weinreich's presen- Andrew Jennings told how aston- tation by saying: 'As long as these people ishingly many among the close political The Many Faces of Football In Argentina, both oppressors and the oppressed celebrated their nation's World Cup triumph in 1978 the 15 visiting teams consent to take part? He pics in 1936. He suggests that the Argentinean By Kirsten Harkjær Larsen' poses numerous similar questions – many of people's apparent lack of concern was due to which still remain unanswered. ignorance and fear, but also a belief that the id you know that the dictatorship's lar- »This could be because the answers would game belonged to the people, not the military. »Dgest torture centre was situated just a bring shame on the nation« he continues. Whatever the underlying causes, the 'Mothers thousand metres from the River Plate Stadium »How could it be that millions of Argentineans of the Plaza de Mayo' stood very much alone where the World Cup matches were played?« celebrated goals with such passion in the midst with their protests. Despite the fact that the re- asks Argentinean journalist Ezequiel F. Moores of all this terror?« gime came under criticism from both the play- during his harrowing account of the human When Argentina won the competition, the ers and press, no journalist, player or manager rights abuses which accompanied the football leaders of the regime, exiles, prison guards and from the visiting nations paid a visit to the pro- World Cup in Argentina. Moores states that be- prisoners all joined in the celebrations. In the de test on the plaza during the tournament. Unlike tween 1976 and 1983, the Argentinean regime Bonafini household, the husband celebrated the Plaza de Mayo protestors, Joao Havelange, murdered 30,000 people and tortured somet- while the wife – Hebe de Bonafini, President of was able to draw full advantage from the event. hing in the region of 5.000 in 340 concentration the dissident group 'Mothers of the Plaza de Two days after Argentina's victory, he declared: camps across the nation. »The prisoners at the Mayo' – sat in the kitchen and cried. 'now the world has seen the true face of this na- Marine School were so close to the stadium that »It is ironic,« says Moores, »that the game of tion'. they could hear the cheers from the crowd at football can be used – and misused – by both »It seems that sport can serve any god« was the same time as the shrieks from their tortured the oppressor and the oppressed.« the conclusion of the chairman of the session – colleagues,« he adds. He adds that the 1978 World Cup was Jens Brinch, Secretary General of the The Sports Moores questions how FIFA, the internatio- clearly used as a tool to legitimise the Argenti- Confederation of Greenland – after hearing nal football federation, could have allowed fo- nean dictatorship in the eyes of the outside Ezequiel F. Moore's story. otball's world championships to take place un- world – the most explicit example of political der such conditions. And moreover, why did manipulation of sport since the Berlin Olym- 7 Play the game 2002.