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 Jerome Valcke, FIFA's secretary general, is described in an
indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, as an
unidentified "high-ranking FIFA official" who in 2008 transferred
the sum to another FIFA official, Jack Warner.
Valcke is not named as a defendant and has not been accused of any
wrongdoing. He was not immediately available for comment.
A spokeswoman for FIFA said the $10 million in bank transactions
were authorized by the then-FIFA Finance Committee chairman. The
Finance Committee chairman was Julio Grondona, who died last year.
Valcke and Blatter are the top two officials within FIFA.
Valcke's connection to the case was first reported by The New York
Times. The Times said Valcke had written in an email to the
newspaper that he neither had authorized the payment nor had the
power to do so.
As new questions arose in the FIFA scandal, more officials were
arrested, suspended or banned on Monday, and countries were weighing
a World Cup boycott amid controversy over the re-election of Blatter
as FIFA president on Friday.
As news broke of Valcke's alleged connection to the case, FIFA
announced that Valcke would not attend the opening of the FIFA
Women's World Cup Canada 2015 due to begin on Saturday as previously
scheduled.
"It is important that he attends to matters at FIFA's headquarters
in Zurich," FIFA said in a statement.
'WHY ARE THERE NO INVESTIGATIONS INTO SEPP BLATTER?'
Warner, a former FIFA vice president, is among 14 FIFA officials and
corporate executives charged by the U.S. Department of Justice last
Wednesday with running a criminal enterprise that involved more than
$150 million in bribes.
Warner left jail in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday after he was
granted bail, according to local media.
"Why are there no investigations in Asia, or in Europe?" Warner
asked German magazine Stern in an interview released on Monday.
"Why are there no investigations into Sepp Blatter? No other person
has brought so much shame and disgrace on FIFA."
A court transcript released on Monday said that Warner's son, Daryan
Warner, secretly agreed in 2013 to cooperate with U.S. authorities
and to admit to participating in a World Cup ticket-reselling
scheme.
Like his brother Daryll, Daryan had agreed to assist U.S.
authorities as part of separate plea deals.
The transcript, ordered released by a federal judge in Brooklyn, New
York, contained Daryan Warner's guilty plea.
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The $10 million payment is a key feature of the indictment accusing
Jack Warner of taking a bribe in exchange for helping South Africa
secure the right to host the 2010 World Cup.
The indictment said an arrangement had been made with FIFA officials
to have $10 million that otherwise would have gone to South Africa
to support the World Cup to the Caribbean Football Union, where
Warner was president.
The indictment said that the high-ranking FIFA official identified
on Monday as Valcke caused $10 million to be wired to accounts
controlled by Warner, who subsequently diverted portions of the
money for his personal use and to personal accounts, the indictment
said.
SUSPENSION AND BANS
In Zurich, Enrique Sanz, the general secretary of CONCACAF (the
Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean
Association Football), was suspended and Congolese Football
Association (FECAFOOT) officials Jean Guy Blaise Mayolas and Badji
Mombo Wantete were provisionally banned by FIFA's ethics committee.
In Paraguay, a judge on Monday ordered house arrest for the former
president of South America's soccer federation, Nicolas Leoz,
accused of involvement in the scandal.
England called for a boycott but a senior UEFA official cast doubt
on an outright move, while Sweden's soccer authorities have not
ruled out the possibility of a boycott, Swedish FA chairman
Karl-Erik Nilsson told Reuters.
Following Blatter's re-election as FIFA president, the English
Football Association's chairman Greg Dyke said his organization
would support any boycott led by UEFA, the Union of European
Football Associations.
English Football Association board member Heather Rabbatts said she
was withdrawing from FIFA's task force against racism and
discrimination with immediate effect.
"Like many in the game, I find it unacceptable that so little has
been done to reform FIFA," Rabbatts said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by
Howard Goller)
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