Zurich: World football’s governing body may have had a change in leadership, but it will take more than a new president to change Fifa’s reputation of being corrupt. That’s because of people like Guam Football Association chief Richard Lai.
Lai — ironically, a member of Fifa’s corruption-fighting audit and compliance committee — pleaded guilty on Thursday in US federal court to wire fraud charges connecting to accepting bribes worth nearly $1 million. Lai, a US citizen, also pleaded guilty to failing to disclose foreign bank accounts and agreed to forfeit roughly $1.1 million.
“Today’s plea marks another important step in our ongoing effort to root out corruption in international football,” Acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York Bridget Rohde said in a statement. “The defendant abused the trust placed in him as a football official in order to line his own pockets, and now he will be held to account.”
Lai admitted to receiving bribes on two occasions. The first came in 2011 when he admitted to receiving $100,000 from an Asian Football Confederation official who was running for the Fifa presidency against disgraced chief Sepp Blatter. Lai accepted the bribe from former AFC president Mohammad Bin Hammam in exchange for his vote and support. (Bin Hammam, meanwhile, wound up banned for life from the sport for corruption charges of his own.)
Lai, whom FIFA banned for 90 days, also admitted to accepting payments totalling $850,000 between 2009 and 2014 from various football officials in the AFC region. The Justice Department alleged Lai received those bribes in part to help those who bribed him identify other officials who might be open to accepting bribes.
“The goal of this scheme was for the faction to gain control of the AFC and influence Fifa,” the DA’s office said.
Lai’s case is connected to a larger investigation into corruption in world football that has so far led to charges against more than 40 soccer executives and business officials, ESPN FC reports. A total of 21 individuals have agreed to plea deals, involving large fines.
“Years of this systemic culture of corruption and greed have tainted one of the world’s most popular sports,” Assistant Director-in-Charge Williams Sweeney said in a statement.
“Kickbacks and bribes became the norm for doing business with Fifa, but not anymore. The plea deal today and all the other cases tied to this investigation prove our work isn’t done, and we will continue to pursue anyone who had their hands in illegal activity.”
— Washington Post
