FIFA Exco Member Denies Corruption Allegations

(ATR) Thailand’s FIFA Exco member Worawi Makudi tells Around the Rings he will cooperate with ethics chief Michael Garcia’s investigation because he has a clear conscience.

On Thursday, Makudi was one of three current ExCo members reported to beunder investigation by Garcia, the head of FIFA’s investigatorychamber, following his probe into corruption in the 2018/2022 World Cupbidding race. According to a Press Association report, the others areBelgium's Michel D'Hooghe and Spain’s Ángel María Villar Llona. Garciais also investigating former FIFA ExCo member Franz Beckenbauer.

"I will give him full cooperation because I did not do anything wrong," Makudi told ATR.

"Anything he would like to know I will tell him."

Makudi said he was not aware of why Garcia had opened disciplinary proceedings against him for alleged violations of FIFA’s code of ethics. Garcia said last week he had opened cases against "a number of individuals".

"This is something I do not understand. I am very clear in my conscience," he told ATR.

Garcia and FIFA have yet to explain why the former US attorney general is investigating the four football officials.

Makudi said he had not met Garcia since being interviewed as part of the 18-month World Cup bidding probe in May.

On at least three occasions in the interview with ATR, Makudi said he was happy to offer full cooperation to the American lawyer. He invited the opportunity to clear his name, "when you are sure you don’t do anything wrong".

Asked if he thought his FIFA ExCo seat was safe, Makudi said: "Yes, because I did not do anything wrong."

There was no mention of Makudi and his fellow FIFA ExCo members in the summary of Garcia’s 430-page investigation made public by FIFA judge Hans-Joachim Eckert two weeks ago.

But Makudi has been linked to corruption allegations involving disgraced former Asian football boss Mohamed Bin Hammam. The Sunday Times alleged that, in a bid to buy votes, the Qatari used the Thai FA president to set up government talks between the Gulf nation and Thailand to strike a gas deal, supposedly worth tens of millions of dollars to Thailand.

In the wake of England’s World Cup 2018 bid failure, former English FA chief David Triesman named Makudi as one of four FIFA Ex-Co members he said had sought "bribes" in return for their votes. He said Makudi had demanded to be given the TV rights to a friendly between England and the Thai national team, claims which the Thai football boss has always strenuously denied.

Makudi, president of the Football Association of Thailand since 2007, was re-elected in October 2013 to a fourth consecutive term. Earlier in 2013, Makudi had failed in a bid to secure the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation after his campaign was dogged by corruption allegations, including ties to Bin Hammam, who was banned for life by FIFA following a FIFA ethics probe into financial mismanagement of AFC funds.

A FIFA Ex-Co member since 1997, Makudi had accompanied Bin Hammam to the meeting in Trinidad where the Qatari is alleged to have handed out $40,000 cash bribes to CFU officials. The Thai was questioned by FIFA investigators but denied any knowledge of the bribes.

In 2011, Makudi was investigated and eventually cleared by FIFA following accusations he spent $860,000 in FIFA development grants to build facilities on land that he owned.

FIFA’s farcical World Cup bidding probe took another turn last week when world football’s governing body lodged a criminal complaint with Switzerland's attorney general in Berne, following a recommendation by Eckert. The German had cleared Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing in the bidding contest, claiming there was insufficient evidence to warrant a revote or relocating the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.

After Garcia disowned Eckert’s report, saying it contained "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations", the two met last week in a bid to settle their differences.

The outcome was a joint statement issued by FIFA which said Garcia’s 430-page bidding probe would be passed to Domenico Scala, chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, who would decide how much information should be made available to FIFA ExCo members.

Reported by Mark Bisson

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.