by Our Sports Desk

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is looking at potential money-laundering offences involving the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the organisation’s director told MPs yesterday.

David Green said the SFO had no jurisdiction to go after Fifa under bribery laws but that there may have been potential money-laundering offences. One of these involved a £270,000 ($500,000 Australian) payment by the Australia 2022 bid committee to disgraced official Jack Warner which may have gone through London.

He also said that the SFO had no powers to act against Fifa officials who had solicited money or favours from England’s 2018 World Cup bid from the evidence obtained so far — but that attempts to procure a copy of the suppressed Garcia report into World Cup bidding had been unsuccessful.

Green, giving evidence to the culture, media and sport select committee, said: “We are still examining issues around possible money laundering and I won’t be able to go into detail as new information has come to us quite recently.”
Asked about the Australia payment, 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 outstanding matters which touch upon money-laundering, there are a number of matters we are still looking at and digging in to.”

Green said the SFO “cannot touch Fifa with the Bribery Act as things stand” as it became law in July 2011 and most of the World Cup allegations took place before then.

Speaking about an alleged request for £2.5 million from Jack Warner to the former FA and England 2018 chairman Lord Triesman, Green said: “It was rotten conduct, I agree with you, and if we could we would like to investigate it.”

Triesman also alleged that Paraguay’s Nicolas Leoz demanded a knighthood in return for his vote.

Green also pointed out there were criminal investigations taking place into many of the officials involved in the US and Switzerland.

Attempts to secure a copy of the report by US former prosecutor and ex-Fifa ethics committe Michael Garcia have proved fruitless, as has a request to the FBI for a copy of a statement from whistleblower Chuck Blazer that he was secretly recorded during meetings with officials during the 2012 London Olympics.

Green said the SFO still had a team of five going through more than 1,600 documents provided by the FA relating to England’s failed 2018 bid.