SOCCER

Lax Swiss laws led to less scrutiny of FIFA

Helena Bachmann
Special for USA TODAY
The hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich on May 27, 2015. Swiss prosecutors opened criminal proceedings into FIFA's awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, only hours after seven soccer officials were arrested at this hotel pending extradition to the U.S. in a separate probe of "rampant, systemic and deep-rooted" corruption.

GENEVA — The multitude of perks enjoyed by FIFA and other sports organizations headquartered in this Alpine nation likely caused Swiss authorities to drag their feet in pursuing charges against world soccer's governing body.

Roland Buechel, a parliamentarian from the conservative People's Party, told the Swiss Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday that his nation should have stepped up to the plate a long time ago to act on allegations that have long dogged FIFA.

"We asked FIFA to clean up its act several years ago," he said. "It failed to do so and now it seems that the U.S. is doing that for FIFA and for Switzerland."

U.S. officials say "two generations of soccer officials" used partnerships with sports marketing executives to solicit $150 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for, among other things, their support for the sites of FIFA World Cup events, from qualifiers to the 2010 World Cup.

With soccer officials from all over the world congregating in Zurich this week to attend the annual FIFA Congress, Swiss authorities arrested seven suspects in the U.S. indictment, six of whom oppose extradition, the Swiss Justice Ministry said. A separate Swiss criminal investigation is looking into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Unlike regular businesses, FIFA and 60 other Switzerland-based sports federations — including the International Olympic Committee — are considered to be "associations." That means they don't have to publish their financial accounts, are exempt from Swiss anti-corruption laws, and are allowed to develop their own activities and govern their own affairs. (Other Switzerland-based organizations, such as the United Nations, fall under a similar privileged category.)

Because of this flexibility within the law, there has not been as much governmental scrutiny of FIFA's activities as lawmakers such as Buechel have been pushing for.

New legislation spearheaded by Buechel will be debated in the Parliament next week. If passed, the law would allow top executives of sporting federations — like FIFA's Sepp Blatter, for example — to be designated as "politically exposed persons" in the event of a charge of corruption, or other crimes.

Such a designation is usually reserved for corrupt heads of state, but it would enable the Swiss government to have a better oversight of financial dealings of sports organizations based in their country.

The new law would also allow the Swiss authorities to be more proactive in the future in investigating corruption cases like the FIFA scandal — a penalty kick of sorts.