Former IOC Director General: Blatter Will Escape Arrest

(ATR) Francois Carrard was on the front line of the IOC response to the vote buying scandal of the 1990s.

He was IOC director general as the organization was buffeted by revelations that bid cities had plied IOC members with cash and other gifts to win their votes to host the Olympic Games. Ten members were forced out, 10 others disciplined about their conduct during the once-freewheeling days for Olympic bid cities.

Since then, the IOC has enacted significant reforms to prevent further scandals, Carrard helping to draft some of the changes and then administering them once they took effect.

Carrard left the IOC in 2002 but still keeps close ties to the Olympics as a lawyer providing counsel to the IOC and other organizations

Carrard tells Around the Rings that one big difference between the IOC scandal two decades ago and the charges involving FIFA is the criminal nature of the accusations.

More than a dozen FIFA officials and marketing executives are facing criminal charges in the U.S. after a lengthy inquiry by the Department of Justice. They are being held in Swiss custody after their arrest in Zürich last week on the eve of the FIFA Congress, now awaiting extradition. These charges involve wire fraud, tax evasion and money

laundering.

Separately, Swiss investigators are pursuing their own inquiry into whether bribes were used to win votes for World Cup bids. The Swiss are acting under a law which did not exist when the IOC scandal broke open in 1998.

"When I had to face the Salt Lake City scandal, the accusations were corruption. I tried to obtain the information from a criminal judge here in Lausanne," explains Carrard.

"I went to him and asked if he could help me because I needed to gather evidence. He came to the conclusion that he could not do anything because at the time, corruption – meaning purchase of votes within a private organization – was not a criminal offense under Swiss law."

Carrard says he believes IOC members could have been subject to arrest if the law had been in effect at that time.

The individuals charged last week under U.S. law are all in Swiss custody, pending extradition hearings that could take weeks - if not months - to complete. Carrard says these cases will also be subject to review by the Switzerland Supreme Court, adding more time before any suspects are possibly sent to the United States for trial.

"I understand these procedures are being coordinated because the Zurich state attorney is certainly cooperating very closely with the Americans but they are technically separate procedures," says Carrard.

"The American procedure has contributed to accelerate and speed up the Swiss one because if you don’t move once there’s a request from the Americans for all of these measures, and if your own procedure doesn’t move up, you could look stupid," says Carrard.

Not arrested last week was Sepp Blatter, elected May 29 to a fifth term as FIFA president.

"Arrested for what?" Blatter responded with impatience when asked at a press conference whether he expected to

be charged. Carrard says he believes Blatter will escape criminal prosecution.

"My opinion, zero. I could be wrong, but if the Americans had something on him they would have tried to hit him one way or the other. The Swiss haven’t done anything, either. I don’t think they have anything or enough against him to put him under arrest," Carrard says.

Carrard observes that Blatter might want to watch his travel to the U.S. where he could be subpoenaed to provide evidence in the cases being prosecuted there.

So if the United States is a no-go zone for a FIFA president, does the prosecution of this case mean trouble for future bids from the U.S. for events such as the World Cup or the 2024 Olympics?

"I think that’s a good question, I don’t think it’s possible to give a clear answer yet. You are raising a good question. It’s a bit premature to sense the reaction. It is certainly an issue which I would follow closely," says Carrard.

Written by EdHula

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