Each soccer body lost a succession of presidents who resigned in the scandal. In separate statements, Paraguay-based CONMEBOL said it was entitled to $71 million of the forfeited money and Miami-based CONCACAF said its share was $70 million. His group of agencies had close relationships with South American soccer body CONMEBOL and North America's CONCACAF. More than $150 million was to be forfeited by Jose Hawilla, the Brazilian marketing executive who has since died. Blatter was attending his final hearing in a 2011 corruption scandal Blatter on the way to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Zurich last month. The money was typically linked to bribes and kickbacks from broadcasting and sponsor deals for continental competitions in the Americas and national deals for World Cup qualifying games.įormer FIFA President Joseph S. The forfeited money - in a case unsealed in 2015 that led to more than 50 people or corporate entities charged - will now be under FIFA's control in Zurich though it mostly never belonged to the world soccer body. 'I would like to thank the US authorities for the trust placed in FIFA,' Infantino said in a statement, pledging 'we will make sure that these funds are used properly and bring tangible benefits for people who really need it.' 'This announcement is the beginning of the process for returning funds to the victims of the FIFA bribery scandal and marks the department's continued commitment to ensuring justice for those victims harmed by this scheme,' the DOJ said in a statement.įIFA's charity supports projects in schools, helps the sport recover after natural disasters, develops women's and girls' soccer, and the FIFA Legends program that uses former players as ambassadors. Last month, the US Department of Justice declared FIFA and other soccer bodies to be victims of corrupt former officials and said they should get more than $200 million from cash forfeited in a sprawling investigation.Ī first amount of $32.2 million will be paid into a 'World Football Remission Fund' overseen by the FIFA Foundation charity, federal prosecutors said. Not all of the news has been bad for FIFA of late. The group was visiting FIFA World Cup 2026 candidate host cities across North America According to the Times, the building cost more than $200 million, thanks to marble flooring and a soundproof room for high level meetings.įIFA members tour Nissan Stadium Thursday, September 16, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee. The organization, which was established in Paris in 1904 and moved to Zurich 28 years later, has been at its current headquarters alongside a zoo since 2007. Lauber was ousted last year after allegedly misleading and obstructing oversight monitors which sought more information about three undocumented meetings with Infantino in 20.īoth men later claimed not to recall details of the meetings which were revealed by media reports.įIFA said Infantino was 'fully available to cooperate with the authorities, whether that concerns meetings that the FIFA President had with the former Attorney General of Switzerland, or anything else.'įIFA's general secretary has called the investigation into Infantino a 'little grotesque and unfair.' Moving the business to America would place FIFA officials and financial accounts under US jurisdiction, and could cost the organization some of the tax breaks it currently enjoys in Switzerland.īut according to the Times, FIFA risks other consequences by staying in the countryįor one, Infantino's relationship with Switzerland's former attorney general Michael Lauber is under investigation in the country stemming from that 2015 US indictment. Also, a move to the US might help to promote women's soccer, which had been dominated by the Americans until their disappointing bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics.įIFA headquarter in Zurich was completed in 2007 at a cost of around $200 million The US offers FIFA entree to new sponsors and Wall Street investors. 'Our aim of making football truly global also means that FIFA itself needs to have a more balanced and global organizational set up,' President Gianni Infantino (pictured) said when the Paris office openedīy moving to the US, FIFA could build its commercial operations in a wealthy, well-populated country that has traditionally resisted the game known to the rest of the world as 'football.' Furthermore, a move would allow FIFA to be more involved in preparations for the 2026 World Cup, which will be played across North America. FIFA, soccer's international governing body, is reportedly considering moving from Zurich to the United States in an effort to expand its global profile and grow its billion dollar business. Such a move would be part of a trend for FIFA, which has been in Zurich since 1932, but began decentralizing in June by opening another office in Paris.