Australia’s bid to host the World Cup was under scrutiny after it was reported that officials bought pearl necklaces for the wives of FIFA executive committee members, according to The Age.
Pearl cufflinks were also given out by Football Federation Australia (FFA) as gifts at a dinner in December 2008 after the announcement of its intention to bid for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. This could end up benefitting the United States’ bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The newspaper’s investigation also discovered that a quarter of the AU$45.6 million (US$38.6 million) taxpayer-funded bid would be paid to two controversial European lobbyists in fees and bonuses. FFA files suggested that Australia’s federal government was not told specific details about how the money was to be spent.
The bid team also reportedly offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Australia this year for South American FIFA executive committee member Rafael Salguero and his wife, to mark his birthday; and it paid for a Caribbean soccer team linked to FIFA vice president Jack Warner to travel to Cyprus last year.
“The FFA is completely transparent in its dealings with government and has provided all information regarding the bidding process requested by government,” FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said.
In terms of the gifts handed out, he added: “It is a widely accepted, common practice among governments, many business and sporting organizations to provide symbolic gifts to visiting international delegations.”
FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, permits “occasional gifts” of “symbolic or incidental value.”
Australia dropped out of the race for the 2018 World Cup but is thought to be one of the favorites for the 2022 tournament. The United States is bidding for both World Cups as well, but with the former seeming likely to go to Europe, the thought is that the U.S. might have a better chance at 2022. Whatever that chance was, it wasn’t hurt by this news.
(This article is provided by NewsCore, which aggregates news from around News Corporation.)