Documents show US investigation of 2 Kuwaitis in FIFA case
Two senior Olympic officials from Kuwait, one reputed to be
the "kingmaker" of IOC elections and another who is president of
swimming's international governing body, have been targeted by the US
Department of Justice for suspected racketeering and bribery related to FIFA
and international football politics, according to documents obtained by The
Associated Press.
The US embassy in Kuwait made a formal request to local
authorities in 2017 for assistance to secure evidence including records of
multiple bank accounts held in the Gulf state, according to one document.
The request included a document dated June 7, 2017, titled:
"Request for assistance in the investigation of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad
Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Husain al-Musallam, Reza Charim, Vahid Kardany and
others."
The documents confirm that Sheikh Ahmad is under
investigation and provide insight into the US government's probe of high-level
foreign officials as part of the broad FIFA investigation that began more than
a decade ago.
The sheikh is an influential powerbroker in Olympic circles
who was a key ally behind Thomas Bach's successful run to the IOC presidency in
2013. The long-time IOC member is president of the group of national Olympic
bodies known as ANOC and a former member of the FIFA executive committee.
"I asked Kuwait to give them everything," Sheikh
Ahmad told the AP this week about the American request. "I have nothing to
hide."
Al-Musallam, a close ally of the sheikh, took over as
president of swimming governing body FINA in June and for the last 16 years has
been the Olympic Council of Asia’s director general. Sheikh Ahmad has been
president of the OCA since 1991.
At the Tokyo Olympics in July, al-Musallam told the AP he
had done nothing wrong and was never questioned about the case by American authorities.
FINA did not immediately comment on the case on Thursday
while the IOC declined to do so.
Sheikh Ahmad is also currently standing trial in Geneva on
an unconnected matter in a dispute between political factions in Kuwait’s royal
family. He has denied wrongdoing and said that case is politically motivated.
The 58-year-old sheikh has been seen as a potential future
Emir of the oil-rich kingdom, a status that fuelled rivalry.
After the indictment in Geneva was revealed three years ago,
Sheikh Ahmad agreed to step aside temporarily from the IOC and presidency of
ANOC. He continues to lead the OCA and have influence in Asian soccer
elections.
The DOJ document seen by the AP details payments totalling
about $1 million from Kuwait - wired from personal accounts held by three of
the men and Olympic organisations run by the sheikh - to a FIFA official from
Guam. That man, US citizen Richard Lai, admitted to financial conspiracy
charges in federal court in April 2017 and agreed to pay $1.1 million in
penalties. He has yet to be sentenced.
The sheikh and al-Musallam could be identified as
co-conspirators in 2017 from federal court documents in that case. Lai admitted
to taking bribes from a Kuwaiti faction that wanted to buy influence and votes
in Asian and world soccer.
Since 2013, Sheikh Ahmad and his allies have run the Asian
Football Confederation. They control most of the soccer body’s 46 votes at
FIFA's annual meeting of 211 members, and can place people on FIFA committees.
Sheikh Ahmad and al-Musallam have denied wrongdoing in the
FIFA case, were never indicted and continued their Olympic work despite being
implicated in paying bribes. US authorities made no further comment and it has
been unclear how active the investigation was.
"As a matter of policy, the Justice Department does not
publicly comment on mutual legal assistance requests to and from our partner
countries, including confirming or denying the very existence of such
requests," Justice Department spokesperson Nicole Navas Oxman said in a
statement to the AP.
Last week, the DOJ restated its commitment to its wider FIFA
investigation when it announced paying tens of millions of dollars in money
forfeited and seized from corrupt soccer officials back into FIFA’s control as
restitution.
"Our work isn't finished," Michael J. Driscoll of
the FBI's New York Field Office said in a statement last week, "and our
promise to those who love the game — we won’t give up until everyone sees
justice for what they’ve done".
Comments
Post a Comment