Rabat - Former FIFA top official Chuck Blazer admitted that he had taken bribes from bidders seeking to host the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.
Rabat – Former FIFA top official Chuck Blazer admitted that he had taken bribes from bidders seeking to host the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.
Blazer, an American, was the second highest official in FIFA’s North and Central American and Caribbean region (CONCACAF) from 1990 to 2011. He also served on FIFA’s executive committee between 1997 and 2013.
His admissions come in a newly released transcript from a 2013 US hearing in which he pleads guilty to 10 charges.
Blazer said one of his co-conspirators received a bribe in Morocco for its bid to host the 1998 tournament, which was eventually awarded to France.
He said that he and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes to select South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup at the expense of rival bidder Morocco.
14 FIFA officials were indicted last week by US prosecutors on charges of bribery, racketeering and money laundering.
Chuck Blazer was among four others who had already been charged. The US justice department alleges they accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m.
Blazer became a cooperating witness in the US investigations. He reportedly agreed to record his colleagues using a microphone hidden in a key chain.
