USAWarner “paid bribe
by Russia” over
2018 World Cup
For much of the past month it has been hard to focus
on football, but the extraordinary global events have
provided a reminder, to borrow a phrase from Arrigo
Sacchi, that football is the most important of the
unimportant things in life.
With no football to report on, we have focused instead
on two things. Firstly, the varying response to the virus
around the world, from the leagues that have carried on
(Belarus, page 20, and Nicaragua,
page 24) to the extraordinary
circumstances of Atalanta’s
Champions League game
against Valencia (page 22).
Secondly, our Most Wanted
feature (page 51) places the focus
on the players who will be in most
demand when football fi nally
restarts. Transfer windows will
inevitably take on different dates
this year, and virus-wrecked club
fi nances will undoubtedly impact on transfer fees, but
talented footballers will remain at the heart of the game.
Over the coming months we will have an opportunity
to refl ect upon the shape and structure of the global game
when we emerge from this crisis. Hopefully we will be able
to provide some answers to the many pressing questions.
With the lockdown reducing our distribution at key
travel points, airports and railway stations, copies of the
magazine are harder to obtain. If you want to ensure your
copy of World Soccer, please consider taking advantage of
our latest subscription offer (page 8).
A fi nal thought for the expensive lawyers who have
sent this publication “cease-and-desist” letters regarding
Russia and Qatar’s World Cup bidding campaigns.
Their attempts to bully us into not reporting bribery
claims will not be successful. We will
continue to report on what
will be remembered as
one of the most sordid
and unpleasant episodes
in the history of our sport.Gavin Hamilton, Editor
FIFAGate has returned to haunt FIFA and the
run-up to the World Cup in Qatar after the
United States Justice Department issued three
new indictments and published new information
on bribes allegedly paid to help Russia and Qatar
land the 2018 and 2022 finals respectively.
The new details included an allegation that
Jack Warner from Trinidad & Tobago was paid
$5million to vote for Russia. Warner was then a
senior national politician, powerful vice-president
of FIFA and head of CONCACAF.
Allegations about attempts to buy votes
had already been aired during the 2017 trial
of Brazilian Jose Maria Marin and Paraguayan
Juan Angel Napout, the only two men so
far formally jailed in the US in a corruption
investigation which exploded in May 2015.
New charges have been laid against former
21st Century Fox executives Hernan Lopez and
Carlos Martinez. Their lawyers have denied the
pair arranged payments to officials of SouthTo borrow a
phrase from
Arrigo Sacchi,
football is
the most
important of
the unimportant
things in lifeTHE WORLD THIS MONTH