Argentina Sues FIFA For Not Honoring Bribe
Jul 15, 2014
Argentina’s football association has announced plans to sue FIFA for violating an agreement that promised them victory at the World Cup if they paid the most money in bribes.
Argentina lost to Germany in a 1-0 game Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. However, Argentine Football Association Chairman Isidoro Gómez said his team had been promised victory after they paid a hefty bribe to FIFA officials.
“FIFA told us that Germany had paid the top bribe to win the World Cup, so we came back with a more generous offer,” Gómez said. “When (FIFA officials) saw the money, they told me, ‘Sorry, did we say Germany is going to win? We meant Argentina is going to win.’
I thought it would be a repeat of our victory with Diego Maradona over West Germany in 1986, after we loaned downtown Buenos Aires to FIFA executives for a week.”
FIFA, which is no stranger to allegations of
corruption and
match fixing,
FIFA spokesman Gilles Triquet congratulated Argentina on its “spirited attempt” at winning the game, but admitted that Germany’s football team came up with an unexpectedly more generous bribe at the last minute.
“Just like the actual game of football -- such as Portugal’s surprise tie of the United States or Germany’s crushing defeat of Brazil -- sanctioned football bribery is an unpredictable and thrilling game,” he said. “You never know who’s going to win.
"Well, we at FIFA know who’s going to win, obviously. But the fans don't know, and that’s what’s really important.”
However, Argentine president Christina Fernandez de Kirchner tells
The Daily Currant that the integrity of FIFA and world football was at stake in Argentina’s lawsuit.
"What is the world coming to when you can't trust FIFA to honor a bribe," she says.
http://dailycurrant.com/2014/07/15/argentina-sues-fifa-for-not-honoring-bribe-2/