FIFA's Secretary General statement
Following the statements made by Mr Mohamed bin Hammam and Mr Jack A. Warner yesterday evening, FIFA’s Secretary General Jérôme Valcke has reacted as follows today, 30 May 2011:
On Mr Mohamed bin Hammam’s statement:
"It is fully incorrect – and quite disappointing - to say that I have an influence on the FIFA Ethics Committee and its proceedings. I have never attended any of the meetings of this committee, and the first time I have met Deputy Chairman Petrus Damaseb has been shortly before the press conference yesterday evening at the Home of FIFA. I fully respect and highly appreciate the independence of this committee and have no intention whatsoever of influencing their work. As is clearly written in the FIFA Code of Ethics, I have the duty to report to the FIFA Ethics Committee any evidence of violations of conduct reported to me by officials."
"It is fully incorrect – and quite disappointing - to say that I have an influence on the FIFA Ethics Committee and its proceedings. I have never attended any of the meetings of this committee, and the first time I have met Deputy Chairman Petrus Damaseb has been shortly before the press conference yesterday evening at the Home of FIFA. I fully respect and highly appreciate the independence of this committee and have no intention whatsoever of influencing their work. As is clearly written in the FIFA Code of Ethics, I have the duty to report to the FIFA Ethics Committee any evidence of violations of conduct reported to me by officials."
On Mr Jack A. Warner’s statement:
"Mr Warner has published an email which I sent to him. I’d like to clarify that I may use in an email – a “lighter” way of expression by nature - a much less formal tone than in any form of correspondence. Having said that, when I refer to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in that email, what I wanted to say is that the winning bid used their financial strength to lobby for support. They were a candidate with a very important budget and have used it to heavily promote their bid all around the world in a very efficient manner. I have at no time made, or was intending to make, any reference to any purchase of votes or similar unethical behaviour. I would also like to clarify that there is, as I said yesterday, no investigation open at FIFA regarding the 2022 FIFA World Cup host election."
"Mr Warner has published an email which I sent to him. I’d like to clarify that I may use in an email – a “lighter” way of expression by nature - a much less formal tone than in any form of correspondence. Having said that, when I refer to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in that email, what I wanted to say is that the winning bid used their financial strength to lobby for support. They were a candidate with a very important budget and have used it to heavily promote their bid all around the world in a very efficient manner. I have at no time made, or was intending to make, any reference to any purchase of votes or similar unethical behaviour. I would also like to clarify that there is, as I said yesterday, no investigation open at FIFA regarding the 2022 FIFA World Cup host election."
In general:
"In these challenging times for FIFA, my commitment and dedication for the world governing body is as high as ever. This implies looking for ways to improve the governance of FIFA and provide the organisation with tools and procedures which will help it face the challenges which may come. FIFA is a great association, organising the most popular single-sport event on earth – the FIFA World Cup, developing football worldwide and using the power of the Game for positive social change. That is FIFA."
"In these challenging times for FIFA, my commitment and dedication for the world governing body is as high as ever. This implies looking for ways to improve the governance of FIFA and provide the organisation with tools and procedures which will help it face the challenges which may come. FIFA is a great association, organising the most popular single-sport event on earth – the FIFA World Cup, developing football worldwide and using the power of the Game for positive social change. That is FIFA."
