FIFA probe throws up ‘53 possible money-laundering’ cases for 2018/2022 bids

Switzerland’s attorney-general has said banks have identified 53 possible money-laundering cases in his investigation into suspected corruption of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process. Michael Lauber said the “suspicious bank relations” and 104 further banking relations of interest had been identified as part of a “huge and complex” investigation into suspected criminal mismanagement and money laundering in the awarding of the tournaments to Russia and Qatar. Lauber said FIFA President Sepp Blatter and secretary-general Jerome Valcke could be interviewed as part of the investigation, which is being managed by a specialist task force of white collar crime specialists.

It will take longer than the legendary 90 minutes. It could take months, it could take years in some parts, but I will do all I can to speed it up.

Michael Lauber, Switzerland attorney-general

Addressing the media for the first time since the Swiss investigation into FIFA was announced three weeks ago, Lauber warned that the investigation could be lengthy. “The football world will have to be patient,” he said. Lauber said that his team had already seized nine terabytes of data which they were currently sifting through. The attorney general said his investigation was in part based on a report into World Cup bidding compiled by FIFA’s former ethics committee investigator Michael Garcia who conducted an investigation into the 2018 and 2022 bidding process. He resigned his post after FIFA published a summary of his report, which he claimed misrepresented his work.

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