ZURICH, (Reuters) – World soccer’s governing body FIFA, grappling with a corruption scandal, said yesterday it would discuss a possible new venue and date for an executive committee meeting originally scheduled for Japan in December.
The announcement came amid uncertainty over whether FIFA president Sepp Blatter would make the trip. He has largely avoided travel since the United States indicted 14 sports marketing executives and soccer officials, including several from FIFA on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges.
Blatter has not been accused of any wrongdoing but retains an attorney. Some lawyers with experience in international criminal cases have said Blatter would be ill-advised to travel since the U.S. indictments were announced in May.
Blatter told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper in an interview in July that he was playing safe.
FIFA’s executive committee meets in Zurich on Thursday and Friday and the final item on the agenda, published yesterday, was listed as “decision on the date and place of the next meeting”.
A FIFA spokeswoman confirmed the matter was under review and gave no reason for the discussion. The calendar page on FIFA’s website continues to list Japan as the venue.
FIFA’s final executive committee meeting of the year traditionally takes place in the same country as the Club World Cup tournament, which is returning to Japan in December after being held in Abu Dhabi and Morocco in previous years.
HOTEL ARRESTS
Seven of those accused in the scandal were arrested by Swiss police in a dawn raid on a luxury Zurich hotel two days before the FIFA congress where Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term.
Blatter shocked the soccer world on June 2 by announcing he would resign. He is staying in office until a successor is chosen at an extraordinary congress on Feb 26.
Since then, his only official trip abroad has been to Russia for the World Cup qualifying draw in St Petersburg in late July.
FIFA also confirmed that Brazilian executive committee member Marco Polo del Nero had failed to attend a meeting in Zurich on Monday of the Olympic Football tournaments organising committee, which he chairs.
Del Nero, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), also missed the May Congress in Zurich, leaving Switzerland shortly after his predecessor Jose Maria Marin was among the seven people arrested.