[troutman]

Jasper Wenban-Smith ‏@JWenbanSmith #FIFA holding press conference at 6pm CEST (5pm BST / 12pm EDT) this afternoon #FIFAarrests


Martyn ZieglerVerified account ‏@martynziegler
BOMBSHELL: Letter from South Africa FA to FIFA instructing $10m payment to Warner WAS addressed to Jerome Valcke
https://twitter.com/martynziegler/st...60641374912512


Bribery Inquiry Drawing Closer to FIFA’s President, Sepp Blatter

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/sp...ef=sports&_r=1


Federal authorities believe that Sepp Blatter’s top lieutenant at FIFA made $10 million in bank transactions that are central elements of the bribery scandal engulfing international soccer, United States officials and others briefed on the case said Monday. The revelation puts the money trail closer to Mr. Blatter, FIFA’s president, than had been previously known.

Jérôme Valcke, the soccer organization’s secretary general, is the unidentified “high-ranking FIFA official” who prosecutors say transferred $10 million in 2008 from FIFA to accounts controlled by another soccer official, Jack Warner, the officials said. The payment is a key piece of last week’s indictment accusing Mr. Warner of taking a bribe in exchange for helping South Africa secure the right to host the 2010 World Cup.

Mr. Warner voted for South Africa, but in the months and years after the vote, South Africa was unable to pay. So rather than take a payment directly from South Africa, the indictment says, FIFA itself paid Mr. Warner in 2008, using money that would otherwise have gone to South Africa to support the World Cup.

In effect, the indictment says the bribe was paid on the back end so South Africa received $10 million less from FIFA than it otherwise would have.