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FIFA Suspends 2026 World Cup Bidding Process; Move comes amid a widening corruption scandal implicating previous bid contests Robinson, Joshua; Revill, John . Wall Street Journal (Online) ; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]10 June

2015: n/a.

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ABSTRACT  

[...]the past few weeks, the U.S.--which hosted the World Cup in 1994--had been considered among the front-

runners to host the 2026 event.

FULL TEXT  

Soccer's world governing body bought itself some time on Wednesday before beginning the most important

process on its agenda--selecting a host for the 2026 World Cup--even as it rushes to elect a new president .

FIFA said the 2026 bidding process, which was due to begin this fall, was on hold because of the separate U.S. and

Swiss investigations that led to the arrest of several FIFA officials in Zurich in May. The organization also

confirmed that it would hold an extraordinary executive committee meeting in July to set a date for a new

presidential election, which is expected to fall in December.

"Today there is no leadership at FIFA, so it's normal that it's been suspended," Michel Platini, the head of the

European soccer confederation and a potential candidate for the FIFA presidency, said at a news conference in

Paris.

In the shorter term, the scandal continues to affect FIFA's day-to-day operations. Embattled Secretary-General

Jerome Valcke, in Russia on Wednesday to inspect preparations for the 2018 World Cup, spoke for the first time

about his link to a $10 million payment from South Africa during bidding to host the 2010 tournament.

The U.S. indictment alleged that the transfer, approved by a senior FIFA official, was a bribe solicited by former

FIFA executive committee members Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, along with one other alleged co-conspirator, in

exchange for their votes in support of South Africa.

Mr. Blazer admitted that he and other executive committee members accepted bribes to vote for South Africa in

his plea agreement, but didn't specify an amount.

FIFA declined to comment on specific allegations, while Mr. Warner has denied all wrongdoing. But, according to

FIFA protocol, Mr. Valcke would have needed to be aware of any payment that size as secretary-general, a role he

began in 2008.

"I will answer all the questions. I have nothing to hide," Mr. Valcke said, insisting he had no knowledge of the

payment's purpose beyond South Africa's stated goal of supporting "the African diaspora in Caribbean countries

as part of the World Cup legacy."

FIFA has said the payments were initially authorized by Julio Grondona, an Argentine official who served as

chairman of FIFA's finance committee at the time. He died in 2014.

"I'm signing all the contracts of FIFA," Mr. Valcke added, the Associated Press reported. "You have decided that

after [FIFA President Sepp Blatter], my head is to be cut. Fine. But don't say it is because of this $10 million."

Separately, Mr. Valcke said beginning the process to find a host for 2026 now would be "nonsense." The

tournament might be more than a decade away, but FIFA had been planning to select a host at its congress in

Kuala Lumpur in 2017. Bidders would have normally registered their interest in the coming months.

It was unclear on Wednesday precisely where the decision had originated inside FIFA, but people familiar with its

thinking said there was little doubt that the postponement made sense.

Until the past few weeks, the U.S.--which hosted the World Cup in 1994--had been considered among the front-

runners to host the 2026 event. But growing ill will toward the American authorities among FIFA voters, insiders

said, could scuttle that plan. Even Mr. Blatter, who announced last week he would be stepping down , suspected

that the American probe came out of the U.S. defeat to Qatar in the bidding for the 2022 World Cup.

U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati declined to be interviewed.

In a change to previous procedures, FIFA's 209-member congress will make the final decision on the event's hosts

from a list of as many as three bids.

The bidding processes for the 1998, 2006, 2010, 2018 and 2022 tournaments are currently being scrutinized.

Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General has said it is looking into the award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia

and the 2022 event to Qatar.

The decision to delay the bidding process for 2026 was described as "sensible" by Alan Tomlinson, a professor at

University of Brighton in the U.K. and author of several books about FIFA. He said it would be a mistake to launch a

new bidding process while "the old ones are being investigated."

"A decision by 209 rather than 24 voters [from the executive committee] is an enormously complex challenge, and

even more vulnerable to potential exploitation and abuse," said Mr. Tomlinson.

Write to Joshua Robinson at [email protected] and John Revill at [email protected]

Credit: By Joshua Robinson and John Revill

DETAILS

Subject: Soccer; Tournaments &championships; Deaths

LINKS Check for full text in other resources

Location: United States--US South Africa

People: Blazer, Chuck Platini, Michel

Company / organization: Name: Federation Internationale de Football Association--FIFA; NAICS: 813990;

Name: Associated Press-NYC; NAICS: 519110

Publication title: Wall Street Journal (Online); New York, N.Y.

Pages: n/a

Publication year: 2015

Publication date: Jun 10, 2015

Section: World

Publisher: Dow Jones &Company Inc

Place of publication: New York, N.Y.

Country of publication: United States, New York, N.Y.

Publication subject: Business And Economics

e-ISSN: 25749579

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 1686975770

Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1686975770?accountid=8289

Copyright: (c) 2015 Dow Jones &Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner.

Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

Last updated: 2019-05-28

Database: ProQuest Central

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