IOC Vice President Downplays Corruption in FIFA World Cup Bidding

(WFI) IOC vice president John Coates has distanced himself from a so-called FIFA whistleblower who alleged a FIFA ExCo member demanded "hard cash" from the Australian World Cup bid in exchange for his vote.

Les Murray worked on the FIFA ethics committee when football’s governing body awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar in December 2010.

The Australian, who has worked for broadcaster SBS for many years, said he made it known to ethics chief Michael Garcia during the FIFA investigator’s World Cup bidding probe that an ExCo member had allegedly sought $5 million to build a sports centre.

"A very high level official, a trusted, reliable person who I know reported this to me. This person is a member of the Australian bid team," Murray told CNN. But he has refused to name the ExCo official or reveal if they still sit on the FIFA ExCo.

When asked by Around the Rings if Murray should name the FIFA ExCo official, Coates said, "I have no idea what he is talking about.

"I know Les and I have got a high regard for him. But in all of these matters, it is often very difficult to be a whistleblower, and you have got to ensure that you have the proper protections," added the head of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The identities of the two FIFA whistleblowers – Bonita Mersiades, head of communications for Australia’s World Cup bid, and Phaedra al-Majid, who worked as a press officer for Qatar 2022 – was blown in FIFA judge Hans-Joachim Eckert's summary of Garcia's bidding probe, which was quickly discredited by the U.S. lawyer as "erroneous" and misleading.

Mersiades told CNN that Murray’s claims to being a 'whistle-blower" was "not one that's weighed down by evidence."

"It's time to stop hiding behind this culture of silence and the quaint concept of confidentiality that pervades FIFA. Les says he is 'perfectly free to talk about this,' yet he is coy when asked who it is. Fans are entitled to know," she added.

Meanwhile, Coates, a leading Australian sports official, chose his words carefully when responding to questions about Murray’s allegations.

"For me, it’s very important that I don’t comment in respect to any specifics in relation to FIFA because, at the end of the day if there are any issues that go to the disciplinary court, then after that the final right of appeal is the Court of Arbitration for Sport of which I am the president," he said.

Murray was reportedly shocked to see that there was no mention of his corruption allegations in Eckert's summary of Garcia’s investigation. The U.S. lawyer’s 430-page report followed his 18-month probe into possible corruption in the World Cup bidding contest.

Australia's bid was heavily criticised by Eckert, who claimed it broke ethics and bidding rules in attempting to curry favor with FIFA ExCo members including former CONCACAF boss Jack Warner.

FIFA remains under pressure to publish Garcia’s report with names redacted to protect the anonymity of interviewees. Dominic Scala, head of the FIFA audit and compliance committee, is currently reviewing the dossier to determine how much of it should be made available to the FIFA Executive Committee.

FIFA's ruling body could make a decision to publish more of the report at its meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco on Dec. 18 and 19.

Written by Mark Bisson

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