FIFA has been awarded $201million as compensation for the criminal activities of former officials.
In 2015, world football’s governing body was raided by Swiss authorities on behalf of the United States Department of Justice, with Sepp Blatter among over 40 officials charged.
On Tuesday, FIFA confirmed the Department of Justice had awarded a $201m compensation package to the FIFA Foundation.
This sum – seized from the bank accounts of the officials who were prosecuted – covers the losses suffered by FIFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL as “victims of decades of football corruption schemes”.
FIFA confirmed the money will go into a newly formed World Football Remission Fund, established to help finance football-related projects.
“I am delighted to see that money which was illegally siphoned out of football is now coming back to be used for its proper purposes, as it should have been in the first place,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“I want to sincerely thank the US Justice authorities for their efforts in this respect, for their fast and effective approach in bringing these matters to a conclusion, and also for their trust in general. The truth is that thanks to their intervention back in 2015, we have been able to fundamentally change FIFA from a toxic organisation at the time, to a highly esteemed and trusted global sports governing body.
“Thankfully, we are well past that unfortunate period in history now and it’s great to see significant funding being put at the disposal of the FIFA Foundation, which can positively impact so many people across the football world, especially through youth and community programmes.”
In a separate statement, South American federation CONMEBOL confirmed it would receive $71m of the package.
CONMEBOL stated it would use these funds for youth camps, education, refereeing and coaching courses, community outreach and women’s football. (SportsMax)
