Fifa crisis: Prince William and David Cameron dragged into row by presidential candidate Chung Mong-joonKorean delegate drops Prince William and Prime Minister's names as row erupts into alleged vote-swapping scandal from England’s doomed bid to host 2018 World Cup
The Duke of Cambridge and the Prime Minister were dragged into the murky power struggle at the top of Fifa as an extraordinary corruption row erupted over England’s doomed bid to host the next World Cup.Prince William and David Cameron were caught up in the battle to replace Sepp Blatter after the Fifa presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon attacked charges against him that could lead to his being banned for 19 years and ruin his hopes of winning the race.The South Korean billionaire denied accusations that he agreed had an illicit pact with former Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson, in which Chung would back England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals in exchange for Thompson supporting his nation’s attempt to secure the 2022 finals.
Chung claimed that Fifa’s ethics committee informed him when it opened a case against him this year that Thompson had confessed to such a vote-swapping deal.
The 63-year-old Chung dismissed the allegation by declaring that the only time such an agreement could have been struck was at a meeting attended by William, the FA president, and Cameron, which he described as inconceivable.
Chung said that the investigatory chamber (IC) of Fifa’s ethics committee eventually dropped any charge relating to the claim but not another action against him over his conduct ahead of the vote that decided the hosts for the next two World Cup finals.
In a 26-page statement denying any wrongdoing, Chung said: “One of the questions that the IC sent me on Feb 13, 2015 was the following:
‘Would it surprise you to learn that the chairman of England 2018, Mr Geoff Thompson, has admitted to agreeing to trade your vote for Korea 2022 [England 2018], in exchange for England’s vote for Korea 2022?’“This allegedly happened when I last met Mr Geoff Thompson when together we paid a courtesy visit on Prince William at the Prince’s request in his suite at Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich on Dec 1, 2010, one day before the vote.
When I went to the Prince’s suite, Prime Minister Cameron was also there.“In the transcript, Mr Thompson does not even remember whether Prince William was present when he and I and PM Cameron were allegedly making this deal.
“My question is, ‘Is it even conceivable that Mr Thompson and I would be making an illicit ‘vote trading’ deal in such company? Is Fifa accusing Prince William and the Prime Minister of Great Britain of being complicit in vote trading the day before the vote? If so, they should be investigating the Prince and PM Cameron as well.”
Chung suggested that the vote-trading allegation was invented by Thompson, who needed “someone to blame” after the “major embarrassment” of England 2018 securing only one vote beyond the former FA chairman’s own.
Thompson declined to comment on Chung’s claims, while a spokesman for the Duke of Cambridge referred calls to the FA.
The ruling body said: “Members of the England 2018 bid team gave evidence to and complied fully with the enquiries into the 2018/2022 bids. The FA does not have any further comments to make.”
Downing Street also released a statement, which read: “The PM attended a number of meetings, documented at the time, in support of England’s World Cup bid. At none of these was vote swapping ever discussed.”
The Conservative MP Damian Collins, an arch-critic of Fifa and a member of the Culture, Media & Sport select committee, told The Daily Telegraph:
“I think Geoff Thompson should go on the record and state whether he believes there was any deal or not. All this does is add to the picture of double dealing and duplicitousness in Fifa.”
Chung’s statement came after it emerged that he was facing a 19-year ban from football that would end his hopes of succeeding Blatter as Fifa president.
He attacked the legitimacy of the charges against him, claiming that he was facing suspension only because he had dared to challenge Blatter’s authority.
That is despite ethics proceedings commencing long before he became a candidate to succeed Blatter.
The proceedings stem from letters he sent to Fifa members about Korea’s plan to raise $777 million (£511 million) to establish a global football development fund if they were awarded the 2022 World Cup.
Chung insisted that this was no different from other funds suggested by rival bidders, including England. Chung said their offer exceeded his, in financial terms, by a factor of 10.
The scion of Korea’s Hyundai industrial conglomerate is running for the Fifa presidency against the Uefa president Michel Platini, who is being investigated over a £1.35 million payment that Blatter made to him in 2011 for work carried out nine years before. Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, of Jordan, is also standing for the presidency.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/fifa/11915880/Fifa-crisis-Prince-William-and-David-Cameron-dragged-into-row-by-presidential-candidate-Chung-Mong-joon.html
