Another Scandal for FIFA
The corruption scandal that Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, the president of FIFA, thought he had put behind him in June when he was reelected to soccer’s top post, resurfaced Thursday when one of his key allies was charged with fraud.
Julio Grondona, president of the Argentine Football Assn. and a FIFA vice president and executive committee member, is said to have been involved in the payment of inflated prices and favoritism in the awarding of contracts to install stadium audio and video security equipment.
Also charged with administrative fraud in the same case are two Argentine club leaders, Mauricio Macri, the president of Boca Juniors, and Fernando Miele, former president of San Lorenzo.
All three have lodged appeals against the charges, which were leveled by a judge in Buenos Aires and carry possible six-year jail terms.
“The three have been charged, but ... the charges must now be approved by a more senior judge, given the appeals,” a court spokesman told Reuters.
Grondona, 71, has been a FIFA executive committee member for 14 years and was a strong supporter of Blatter, despite the financial corruption scandal that marked the FIFA president’s bitter re-election campaign.
Iran, Japan Reach Final
Iran, the defending champion and three-time winner, and Japan, a relative outsider, advanced to the final of the Asian Games tournament in South Korea on Thursday by ousting South Korea and Thailand, respectively, in the semifinals.
The Iranians were outplayed by the Koreans in Pusan, but the home team squandered one scoring opportunity after another and the match ended in a 0-0 tie.
Iran then advanced on penalty kicks, 5-3, after South Korea’s captain, Lee Young-Pyo, hit the crossbar with his attempt.
Earlier, in nearby Ulsan, Japan had far less trouble disposing of Thailand, 3-0, on goals by Shohei Ikeda, Keita Suzuki and Satoshi Nakayama.
German Compensation
In a decision with potentially far-reaching consequences, the German soccer federation (DFB) has agreed to pay Bayern Munich several hundred thousand dollars in compensation for the injury sustained by Bayern midfielder Sebastian Deisler while playing for Germany against Austria on May 18.
Deisler, one of his country’s most promising playmakers, missed the World Cup as a result of the right ankle injury and has been sidelined ever since.
The German newspaper Bild said the DFB had paid Bayern $544,000 in compensation, but other media reports suggested the figure might have exceeded $1 million.
Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, president of the DFB, said he considers the settlement a one-time occurrence.
“The Deisler case should not be seen as setting a precedent,” he said.
More likely, however, is that other big-name clubs will seek remuneration when their players are injured while playing national team games.
Mexico’s Choice
Luiz Felipe Scolari, the coach who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup, was interviewed as a candidate for the Mexican national team coaching position, but the Mexican soccer federation (FMF) has denied that he is the front-runner for the position left vacant by Javier Aguirre.
“There is no favorite,” Alberto de la Torre, the FMF president, said of the three candidates: Scolari, Carlos Bianchi and Ricardo Lavolpe.
“One [Lavolpe, the coach of Mexican league leader Toluca] has a lot of experience in Mexican football; the other [Scolari] has the advantage of being world champion, and the other [Bianchi] is a world champion at club level.”
Bianchi coached Boca Juniors of Argentina to two South American titles and an Intercontinental Cup
Arena Contract
Bruce Arena, the coach who led the United States to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, has agreed in principal to terms of a new four-year contract, the Washington Post reported, but a U.S. Soccer spokesman said no announcement will be made until the contract is signed.
