Fifa is the body responsible for running world football. It has recently been dogged by accusations of corruption, particularly after awarding the 2022 World Cup to the tiny but rich and influential Gulf state of Qatar. In December 2014, Fifa chose not to release its own investigation into corruption, instead releasing an executive summary which it said exonerated the bidding process. The report's independent author, American lawyer Michael Garcia, resigned in protest.
The World Cup is the most-watched sporting event in the world, larger even than the Olympics. It generates billions of dollars in revenue from corporate sponsors, broadcasting rights and merchandising. These arrests and investigations cast doubt over the transparency and honesty for the process of allocating World Cup tournaments, electing its president, and the administration of funds, including those earmarked for improving football facilities in some of Fifa's poorer members.
The FBI has been investigating Fifa for the past three years. The investigation was initially sparked by the bidding process for the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cups, but was widened to look back at Fifa's dealings over the past 20 years.
The Department of Justice's indictment says that the corruption was planned in the US, even if it was then carried out elsewhere. The use of US banks to transfer money appears to be key to the investigation.
Mr Blatter consistently denied wrongdoing while several of his close colleagues were indicted by the US. In September, he was named as the subject of a separate criminal investigation launched by Swiss prosecutors.
Apart from Mr Blatter, the most senior figures accused are football powerbrokers in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.
They are connected to Concacaf, the continental confederation which operates under the Fifa umbrella and is essentially in charge of football in that region. One of its key roles is helping to agree World Cup TV and sponsorship deals in the US.
Jeffrey Webb is the head of Concacaf and was widely seen as being groomed as a successor to Fifa president Sepp Blatter. He has been extradited to the US.
His predecessor, the above-mentioned Jack Warner, has also been indicted. Mr Webb replaced Mr Warner after he was forced to step down after an internal Fifa fraud inquiry.
Latin American football chiefs also figure heavily in the list. There are two former presidents of Conmebol, which represents South American football nations: Nicolas Leoz and Eugenio Figueredo.
出處：http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32897066
深難字詞：
exonerated 免除
merchandising 銷售
administration 管理
indictment 起訴書
prosecutors 檢察官
confederation 聯盟
transparency 透明度
predecessor 前任
above-mentioned 上述
groomed 培養
Everyone know that it is not good to be a corrupt person. But there are still someone doing it because they want to become rich. As the article mentioned above, Fifa is an important organization for holding world football games. However, due to the accusations of corruption, there were many related people forced to step down to show their apology at the end.
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回覆刪除It make me understand how greedy people are. It is a reality that everyone loves money, and do some bad things to achieve their goal. It is a good and commonplace game, but because some nasty business lead to corrupt. I hope that people who bribed can be punished.
回覆刪除As the ancient people said, people are born to be evil. Like the contents in the article, people are greedy,grasping, dishonest. To make fortune, people do anything against morality to achieve the goal. They should be penalized.
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