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The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is looking into a series of potentially suspicious payments connected to the bids for the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups, which may have passed through UK-based accounts.
The SFO’s director, David Green, told the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that British bribery law did not allow his organisation to act on persistent claims that the voting process, in which England lost out, had been corrupted.
But it is possible that payments, which may have been made in connection to the bids, could be linked to money laundering. One such payment is the A$500,000 (£268,000) paid by the Australia 2022 bid team to Jack Warner, the disgraced former Caribbean football chief.
Fifa carried out its own investigation into corruption in the bidding process for those tournaments – the now notorious “Garcia Report” – over which the US lawyer who produced it, Michael Garcia, resigned, claiming the published version of his findings had been distorted. That report has since been passed to Swiss police, forming the initial basis of their investigation that led to the suspensions of Fifa president Sepp Blatter and vice president Michel Platini.
Mr Green said his request to see a copy of the report had been refused. He said he was told information would only be shared if he sent a “letter of request” – in other words, that he opened his own criminal investigation. Asked about the Australia payment, Mr Green said: “I cannot confirm the assertion that money went through London – it certainly started off in Sydney and appears to have ended up in Trinidad.
“It could be money laundering yes. Whether the money came through London is important. There are a number of matters we are still looking at and digging into.”
It has previously been alleged that Mr Warner, who denies any wrongdoing, and others asked England’s bidding team for substantial bribes. “If we could we would like to investigate it,” Mr Green added.
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