FIFA Update: Interpol Suspends Agreement with FIFA

By Christian Radnedge

Interpol has suspended its partnership with FIFA because of the ongoing US and Swiss Justice investigations into corruption in world football.

The agreement was launched in 2011 with FIFA paying Interpol €20m to finance an ‘integrity in sport’ programme focusing on matchfixing, which was meant to last ten years.

But following the recent arrests and scandal in world football’s governing body, Interpol general secretary Jurgen Stock took the decision this week at an executive committee meeting to suspend the deal.

Stock said in Lyon: “In the light of the current context surrounding FIFA, while Interpol is still committed to developing our integrity in sport programme, I have decided to suspend the agreement.

“All external partners, whether public or private, must share the fundamental values and principles of the organisation, as well as those of the wider law enforcement community.”

Interpol, who had last week released their most wanted list which included former FIFA officials Jack Warner and Nicolas Leoz, added in a statement: “The integrity in sport programme has helped international efforts across its 190 member countries to prevent the manipulation of sporting events and illegal gambling by criminal groups. Their ongoing criminal activities require a global response.

“Interpol continues to closely monitor developments involving FIFA.”

The decision came as a shock to FIFA as it expressed its disappointment in a statement of its own.

FIFA said: “We are disappointed to learn of the decision… The success and importance of this programme cannot be understated. Our cooperation over the past four years has been a key part of addressing the transnational problem of match fixing.

“This successful programme is unrelated to the current issues surrounding FIFA and we believe that this unilateral decision will negatively impact the fight against criminal activity, a goal of which no supporter of the sport can be in favour.

“FIFA remains committed to this important and successful collaboration and will work for its resumption at the earliest opportunity. We are currently reaching out to INTERPOL to further discuss this matter.”

The news pours further scrutiny on the future of FIFA in its current form, with president Sepp Blatter standing down and documents in its Zurich headquarters being seized for the investigation.

This week it was announced that FIFA Director of Communications Walter De Gregorio is to leave his post with immediate effect. It’s unclear the reasoning behind his departure, though reports suggest it was due to a joke made about the crisis on Swiss TV.