The Swiss acquittals of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini — the former presidents of Fifa and Uefa, respectively — are the latest developments in a long and sordid tale involving allegations of corruption, kickbacks and kick-offs.
Charges were brought on the grounds that a 2011 payment of 2.2 million Swiss francs from Fifa to Platini, given with Blatter’s blessing, was allegedly a bribe. Blatter & co insisted that the payment was retrospective salary for Platini’s advisory work from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Ultimately, the court found that there was credence to the pair’s version of events, casting doubt on the prosecution’s theory.
Yet Blatter remains subject to another Swiss criminal investigation, this time in relation to a 2010 payment for $1 million to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association using a Fifa account. Similarly, investigations related to Fifa continue in the US, with prosecutions brought against more than 50 corporations and individuals to date. But where those in Europe and the US are leading, the UK is uncharacteristically trailing behind.
In 2015, the Serious Fraud Office announced that it was looking into possible money laundering connected to Fifa. Although the US was also investigating the alleged underlying corruption, which had a potential UK nexus, the then director, David Green QC, stated that “there is no particular sense in trampling over someone else’s investigation just so that you look to be doing something”. As a result, progress in the UK appeared to run dry.
This is surprising when the UK is in prime position to launch a legal attack. The arsenal of legal tools at its disposal alone demonstrates the UK’s prowess in this arena.
And the UK should not run from a legal fight. Perhaps the position will change if, for argument’s sake, Qatar’s win of the hosting rights to the 2022 World Cup were definitively proved to stem from corruption.
Two years ago, the US Department of Justice accused Qatari representatives of bribing Fifa officials to win the gig. Here is where the UK could join the fray. Under English law it is an offence to enter into arrangements that are suspected of facilitating the use of criminal property — in this case the proceeds of a bribe. By this logic, UK companies entering into arrangements, such as for broadcast rights, that are in any way connected to this World Cup technically could be facilitating the use of proceeds of crime.
It could be argued that the UK’s choice to remain on the reserve bench for now is a strategic win. One thing to learn from Switzerland’s failed prosecution of Fifa’s former head is that Blatter and pals have a nigh-on impenetrable defensive wall.
Keith Oliver is the head of the international department at the London law firm Peters & Peters and Peter FitzGerald is a solicitor at the firm
