More facts have emerged as regards to the pervasive corruption that has tainted the football world governing body FIFA.
The principal actors in the scandal such as Ex-FIFA vice-president Jack Warner faces fresh corruption charges as he allegedly cut a deal with outgoing president Sepp Blatter to make an $17-million profit off World Cup television rights, Martyn Ziegler of the Press Association reports.
An investigation found that Warner, while running as president of the Caribbean Football Union in 2005, sub-licensed broadcast rights he acquired at a pittance for millions of dollars.
Blatter initially sold the rights to show the 2010 and 2014 World Cups to Warner for $600,000 – a fraction of their value. Warner, who was a close confidant of Blatter’s on the executive committee, repackaged the deal for a Jamaican TV station at a price between $18 million and $20 million.
But it wasn’t the first instance of suspicious activity. In 1998, Warner was handed World Cup TV rights for his native Trinidad and Tobago for just a dollar.
Warner is already wanted in the United States after an investigation by the FBI uncovered bribery, corruption, and wire fraud conspiracy during his time with FIFA. He resigned from his posts in international football in 2011, but his questionable past has led to a request for his extradition to the U.S.
The U.S. investigation also extended to the distribution of TV rights for editions of the Copa America. The Department of Justice charged 14 officials with bribes totaling more than $150 million.
It has put in doubt the location of the centenary Copa America, which was set to held in the United States next year.