(Reuters) – CONCACAF named former NBA executive Philippe Moggio as its new general secretary yesterday as it continued to try to clean up its act after years of turmoil.
Moggio, a former Colombia Davis Cup tennis player, was named two weeks after Canadian football boss Victor Montagliani was elected president of CONCACAF, which governs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
The Miami-based confederation was at the centre of a corruption scandal that engulfed world soccer last year in which 42 individuals and entities charged in the United States on a variety of graft-related offences.
Three of CONCACAF’s most recent presidents, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jack Warner, Cayman Islander Jeffrey Webb and Honduran Alfredo Hawit, were among those charged. Webb has since pleaded guilty to offences linked to racketeering, fraud and money- laundering.
“The key appointment of Philippe Moggio as General Secretary adds yet another layer of stability to our business operations,” said Montagliani in a CONCACAF statement.
Moggio, who was the NBA’s senior vice-president for Latin America, will be responsible for the day-to-day running of CONCACAF and implementing reforms passed in February.
“My focus is to continue implementing the reforms, while leading the front office in strengthening our business performance to further position CONCACAF as a leading sports organization,” said Moggio, who also hold French citizenship.
CONCACAF said that during his time at the NBA, Moggio, formerly an investment banker, oversaw “unprecedented commercial and developmental success in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Former CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer, who held the position from 1990 until 2011, secretly pleaded guilty in the United States to bribery and financial offences in 2013.
FIFA later banned him from all football activities for life.
Enrique Sanz, who held the position from July 2012 under Webb’s leadership, was provisionally suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee last June and then put on indefinite leave in August, although he is not among those indicted.