From Straits Times

US prosecutors may tap on what he knows to file charges against top football officials

NEW YORK • Jeffrey Webb, the arrested football official who was transferred this week to the United States, might be a key asset to prosecutors weighing whether to build cases against others, including Sepp Blatter, the outgoing president of Fifa.

Webb is among nine officials at Fifa, football’s governing body, and five marketing executives who have been charged in a racketeering and bribery indictment by the US authorities.

The 50-year-old, a suspended Fifa vice-president, allegedly took millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks for media rights to football tournaments.

He agreed last week to be extradited and could plead guilty and help the investigators in a bid for leniency at sentencing.

If so, he might provide a road map to the inner workings of Fifa and his dealings with Blatter, who has not been charged yet.

Webb was also close to Jack Warner who was a former president of football’s governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf).

“If there was an opportunity to cooperate, this is the time to do it,” said Jeff Neiman, a former US federal prosecutor who is not involved in the case.

“By getting to the United States quickly, he’s positioned himself well if it’s his desire to cooperate.”

Given Webb’s position, Neiman added, “he undoubtedly has knowledge about those he played ball with at Fifa and Concacaf”.

A former Cayman Islands banker, Webb became a favourite of Blatter who suggested he would be an ideal successor at Fifa.

As the deputy chairman of Fifa’s internal audit committee for a decade, Webb may have details of financial transactions signed off by Blatter and sent to the football officials implicated in the scandal.

Warner quit amid a corruption scandal in 2012 and is among those indicted, accused of taking bribes for media rights.

Prosecutors said Webb took up where Warner left off, cashing in on the lucrative television rights that Concacaf controlled.

The pressure on Warner, a Trinidad resident, is building from those who are close to him.

His two sons have pleaded guilty, as has Charles Blazer, 70, who was Concacaf’s former general secretary. All of them are cooperating with the prosecutors.

Webb also served a decade ago as the director of a Cayman company that Warner controlled, court records show.

The latter last month publicly promised an avalanche of revelations about Fifa corruption.

Instead, facing extradition, he posted a rambling video online, saying that he had placed files with attorneys in multiple countries that contain details that will compromise Blatter.

Asked to elaborate on those allegations, Warner responded in an e-mail: “If and when I decide to disseminate any further information, you will be advised.”

Neiman said Webb may have concluded that being in jail in Switzerland is more difficult than being out on bail in the US.

“If he were to cooperate, it’s logistically harder to do outside the United States,” the American added.

“You can’t have it both ways in fighting extradition and cooperating.”

IMAGE: Jeffrey Webb, who was deputy chairman of Fifa’s internal audit committee for a decade, could shed light on financial transactions signed off by outgoing Fifa chief Sepp Blatter. PHOTO: EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

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For more on this story go to: http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/webb-could-help-trap-culprits#sthash.HAmWgnrC.dpuf

See also iNews Cayman story published July 18 2015 “Fifa corruption: Jeffrey Webb pleads not guilty in US” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/fifa-corruption-jeffrey-webb-pleads-not-guilty-in-us/

Related story:

UEFA wants Blatter to go quickly

By PA Sport From Eorosport

FIFA president Sepp Blatter will come under pressure to agree to an early date for the election of his successor at the first meeting of the world governing body’s executive committee since the corruption crisis exploded.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter will come under pressure to agree to an early date for the election of his successor at the first meeting of the world governing body’s executive committee since the corruption crisis exploded.

The meeting in Zurich on Monday will allocate the date for a special Congress to elect a new president after Blatter’s announcement last month that he will step down.

That decision followed mounting pressure on FIFA following a series of arrests, including of seven FIFA officials in Zurich, following an FBI investigation and separate probes by Swiss authorities into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

There were also revelations of bribes paid for votes for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and increasing concerns from FIFA’s sponsors.

Blatter has stated he wants to remain in office until the new election, to be held between December and March, but UEFA wants the 79-year-old to step down as soon as possible, and by December at the latest.

A likely date of the FIFA election looks to be in mid-January – UEFA had been pushing for December 16 but that would clash with FIFA’s Club World Cup competition in Japan.

Those pushing for Blatter to leave immediately include UEFA president Michel Platini and other European members of FIFA’s executive committee including England’s David Gill and Germany’s Wolfgang Niersbach.

UEFA is also distancing itself from reports in Spain’s AS newspaper that Platini is ready to stand for FIFA president and already has the support of four of the six confederations, with Africa and Asia preparing to back separate candidates.

Platini is the clear favourite however, and were he to win then Niersbach would be a likely successor to the Frenchman for the UEFA post.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Brazil’s executive committee member Marco Polo Del Nero will not be attending the meeting in Zurich.

Del Nero was the delegate who suddenly returned to Brazil following the arrests in Zurich on May 27 of the seven FIFA officials on US justice department corruption charges.

One of those seven, the former FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb from the Cayman Islands, has agreed to be extradited to the United States from Switzerland.

Webb appeared in court in New York on Saturday and pleaded not guilty to charges including bribery and fraud. He was released on bail after his family posted a 10million US dollar bond but must remain within 20 miles of the court and wear an electronic tag.

He was also ordered to surrender his three passports, two UK passports and one from the Cayman Islands.

For more on this story go to: http://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/uefa-wants-blatter-to-go-quickly_sto4826597/story.shtml