Some executives talked about removing Michael Garcia jim Boyce 'would have considered quitting' had plan worked
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| Michael Garcia, the former FBI investigator, heads up Fifa's independent ethics commission looking into claims of bribery over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes. Photograph: Jamie Mcdonald - Fifa/FIFA via Getty Image |
The former FBI investigator leading a probe into the
controversial bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups almost
fell victim of a plot from some Fifa executives to defenestrate him from the organisation's ethics committee, it has emerged.
Michael Garcia, who heads the investigatory chamber of Fifa's ethics committee, has been charged with examining the chaotic dual bidding race for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively in December 2010.
The US lawyer turned up unannounced in Zurich last week to speak to those members of the executive committee who were around during the controversial process, which became mired in allegations of bribery and vote swapping.
Some were believed to be unsettled by his presence and it has now emerged that informal conversations took place among some unnamed executives on the fringes of the meeting in an attempt to remove Garcia from his position.
Fifa vice president Jim Boyce, Britain's representative on the 24 person executive committee, told the Guardian he was aware of the plot but said it never made it as far as the executive committee boardroom.
He said that he would have been appalled if the plan had been raised officially and would have had to consider his position if anyone moved to unseat Garcia or interfere with his independent investigation.
"It is something that did go on but I don't know who was involved. There was a bit of informal chit chat," he said.
In a statement, Boyce added: "As someone who has been brought up with honesty and integrity - and it was a great honour for me to be asked to be a vice-president - if this had been proposed at the exco meeting or I thought for one moment Garcia would be removed in any fashion from carrying out his full investigation, I and others would be aghast and would have had to consider our positions because things at Fifa have been improving greatly."
It is believed that some of those executive committee members who have joined Fifa's top table since December 2010 intervened to protest strongly that it would cast the organisation in an even worse light if Garcia was blocked in any way.
There is no suggestion that Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who last week refused to comment on fresh allegations of illicit payments between former Fifa executives Mohamed Bin Hammam and Jack Warner in the wake of the World Cup vote, was involved in the discussions regarding Garcia.
Any move to remove Garcia or abolish the reformed dual-chamber ethics committee, introduced in the wake of the storm of protest that accompanied the sullied 2011 Fifa presidential election, would have been unconstitutional in any case.
Having been created by the full Fifa Congress, which will next meet in Sao Paulo ahead of the World Cup, it is not within the executive committee's power to interfere with the supposedly independent ethics committee.
Fifa executive committee member Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan told Reuters: "I am very happy that Michael Garcia will continue in his work. There were some questions raised about the necessity of having an Independent Ethics Committee but to be honest, I think that idea was stopped.
"There were certain people like myself who could not accept that this could happen. He was supported by our Congress and given a mandate and I am very happy he will continue with his work."
The new ethics committee was approved by Congress in June 2011 while Garcia himself was appointed in June 2012 at an extraordinary executive committee meeting.
Garcia, the former attorney for the Southern District of New York, was empowered by Congress to "leave no stone unturned" in his quest to discover if there had been any wrong-doing regarding the voting procedures in the World Cup bidding process.
He has already toured the various bidding nations, including England, to interview all of those involved in the bid process and gather evidence.
As Fifa's first independent ethics investigator and prosecutor Garcia was also empowered to investigate the votes-for-cash scandal that led to long-serving and high-ranking Fifa officials Jack Warner and Mohammed Bin Hammam leaving the organisation.
Warner resigned under a cloud and Bin Hammam was banned for football for life after they were implicated in paying cash bribes of $40,000 to Carribean Football Union members during the Qatari's unsuccessful bid to unseat Blatter as Fifa president.
Michael Garcia, who heads the investigatory chamber of Fifa's ethics committee, has been charged with examining the chaotic dual bidding race for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively in December 2010.
The US lawyer turned up unannounced in Zurich last week to speak to those members of the executive committee who were around during the controversial process, which became mired in allegations of bribery and vote swapping.
Some were believed to be unsettled by his presence and it has now emerged that informal conversations took place among some unnamed executives on the fringes of the meeting in an attempt to remove Garcia from his position.
Fifa vice president Jim Boyce, Britain's representative on the 24 person executive committee, told the Guardian he was aware of the plot but said it never made it as far as the executive committee boardroom.
He said that he would have been appalled if the plan had been raised officially and would have had to consider his position if anyone moved to unseat Garcia or interfere with his independent investigation.
"It is something that did go on but I don't know who was involved. There was a bit of informal chit chat," he said.
In a statement, Boyce added: "As someone who has been brought up with honesty and integrity - and it was a great honour for me to be asked to be a vice-president - if this had been proposed at the exco meeting or I thought for one moment Garcia would be removed in any fashion from carrying out his full investigation, I and others would be aghast and would have had to consider our positions because things at Fifa have been improving greatly."
It is believed that some of those executive committee members who have joined Fifa's top table since December 2010 intervened to protest strongly that it would cast the organisation in an even worse light if Garcia was blocked in any way.
There is no suggestion that Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who last week refused to comment on fresh allegations of illicit payments between former Fifa executives Mohamed Bin Hammam and Jack Warner in the wake of the World Cup vote, was involved in the discussions regarding Garcia.
Any move to remove Garcia or abolish the reformed dual-chamber ethics committee, introduced in the wake of the storm of protest that accompanied the sullied 2011 Fifa presidential election, would have been unconstitutional in any case.
Having been created by the full Fifa Congress, which will next meet in Sao Paulo ahead of the World Cup, it is not within the executive committee's power to interfere with the supposedly independent ethics committee.
Fifa executive committee member Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan told Reuters: "I am very happy that Michael Garcia will continue in his work. There were some questions raised about the necessity of having an Independent Ethics Committee but to be honest, I think that idea was stopped.
"There were certain people like myself who could not accept that this could happen. He was supported by our Congress and given a mandate and I am very happy he will continue with his work."
The new ethics committee was approved by Congress in June 2011 while Garcia himself was appointed in June 2012 at an extraordinary executive committee meeting.
Garcia, the former attorney for the Southern District of New York, was empowered by Congress to "leave no stone unturned" in his quest to discover if there had been any wrong-doing regarding the voting procedures in the World Cup bidding process.
He has already toured the various bidding nations, including England, to interview all of those involved in the bid process and gather evidence.
As Fifa's first independent ethics investigator and prosecutor Garcia was also empowered to investigate the votes-for-cash scandal that led to long-serving and high-ranking Fifa officials Jack Warner and Mohammed Bin Hammam leaving the organisation.
Warner resigned under a cloud and Bin Hammam was banned for football for life after they were implicated in paying cash bribes of $40,000 to Carribean Football Union members during the Qatari's unsuccessful bid to unseat Blatter as Fifa president.
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