US prosecutors charged former FIFA officials with receiving bribes that resulted in Russia and Qatar winning the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
These charges are of great importance in investigations into allegations of football corruption in FIFA. This measure is unprecedented, because it is the first time that government judicial authorities have issued corruption charges related to these two incidents.
Doubts have been raised for years about the conditions for granting the right to host the Mondiales 2018 and 2022, but this is the first time that a judicial system in a country has confirmed that the votes that favor Russia and Qatar have been marred by irregularities.
The indictment issued by the US Attorney General in Brooklyn, John Donohue, on Monday, details of the corruption that marred the voting process in 2010 in Zurich, and led to granting Russia the hosting of the 2018 World Cup and Qatar World Cup 2022.
The accusation documents allege that many former members of the FIFA Executive Committee were offered bribes related to giving their votes.
The US Attorney General says there are allegations of corruption against Nicolas Leoz, former president of the South American Football Association (CONMEBOL), and former Brazilian FIFA member Ricardo Teixeira.
Nicolas Leoz died last year while under house arrest in Paraguay, and he was making an effort not to deport him to the United States for trial. The International Football Association has passed a resolution banning Brazilian Teixeira for life from participating in any activity related to the game, because of receiving marketing bribes and media broadcasting rights to football tournaments between 2006 and 2012.
The two officials are accused of receiving the money in exchange for voting for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.
The US prosecution says that Trinidadian former Confederation president Jack Warner, who was vice president of FIFA, received five million dollars through a fake company, in exchange for voting for Russia in the 2018 World Cup.
Russia beat Britain in the competition, to organize the latest version of the World Cup in 2018. The president of the Guatemala Football Association, Rafael Salgiro, also promised a bribe to vote for Russia.
In 2016, Salgiro pleaded guilty to several corruption charges, and was also suspended for life by FIFA. Warner, who faces charges from the US court, is doing his best to avoid handing him over to the United States.
Exploitation and bribery in international football is a well-established practice that has been known for decades, William Sweeney, assistant director of the New York field office of the FBI, said in a statement on Monday.
What is the background to the matter?
But only in 2015, after a raid on a hotel in Zurich near the FIFA headquarters, the US Department of Justice announced that it had begun investigating football and TV media officials who had made fortunes in their positions.
This scandal sparked the worst crisis in FIFA's history, which ultimately led to the departure of the President of the International Federation for the game, Blatter, from office. In all, 42 people were charged, and 26 of them were convicted.
Why is this important?
This is not the first time that officials have been accused of corruption in connection with the organization of the World Cup in Qatar, during investigations conducted by the FBI office.
In 2017, Alejandro Porzaco, a former television official, told a New York jury that Luz and Teixeira - and now the president of the Argentine Football Association (FFA), Julio Grondona - had received money in exchange for voting for Qatar, which outperformed the United States in winning the championship.
Despite years of skepticism about how they won the vote, Qatar and Russia have always denied wrongdoing and were acquitted during a FIFA investigation in 2017.
But the game's international association may find itself under renewed pressure to reopen an investigation into how to win those votes.
The BBC contacted the Qatar Organizing Committee for the upcoming tournament and FIFA to comment on the matter, and has not yet received a response.
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