Again, FIFA probes Amos Adamu

Beckenbauer, Llona also face probe

Former Executive Committee member, Nigeria’s Amos Adamu, who recently served a three-year ban from al football related activities for soliciting money for votes in the run of the 2018 and 2020 World Cup hosting rights polls, is once again the subject of a probe by FIFA’s Ethics Committee.

The new probe, according to reports in Western media, will determine if Adamu was involved in activities that breached FIFA’s code of ethics.

The report is not specific on the particular rules breached by Adamu, but it says the 62-year-old Nigerian, who was a member of FIFA’s executive committee for four years until 2010, could face fresh sanctions if fund culpable.

Also under FIFA’s searchlight is Germany’s legend, Frank Beckenbauer and Spain’s Angel Villar Llona, who have repeatedly been mentioned in unsubstantiated reports about alleged wrongdoing during their time with FIFA.

Twenty-four hours after the lid was lifted over strict confidentiality rules that for years have straight-jacketed ethics investigators in terms of what they can and can’t reveal, and when, Beckenbauer and Llona were cited yesterday as previously unconfirmed figures caught up in the FIFA corruption crisis.

Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner as both a coach and player, went into football administration after his distinguished career, organising his country’s highly successful 2006 World Cup and becoming a member of FIFA’s executive committee.

Now retired, he was widely reported to have voted for Russia for 2018 and Australia for 2022, while Villar Llona, around whom there have been claims of vote collusion for years, has sat on FIFA’s executive committee since 1998.

The reports say the current investigation is not related to the recent allegations surrounding vote-buying in the build-up to the 2006 ballot when Germany edged home 12-11 against South Africa.

Llona has long been under suspicion in the international media and the fact that he has now been named by ethics investigators only goes to prove those suspicions correct.

Ironically, as UEFA’s second in command, Llona has only just taken over some of the roles and responsibilities handled by UEFA boss Michel Platini, who is under suspension himself.

GUARDIAN