Euro 2012 Bribery Scandal
http://www.worldfootballinsider.com/Story.aspx?id=33849Exclusive: UEFA Launches Lawsuit in Euro 2012 Bribery Scandal
October 28, 2010The front page of today's Gazzetta dello Sport with the "Corrupt" headline (Gazzetta) (WFI) UEFA tells INSIDER it has launched legal proceedings against Spyros Marangos amid fresh revelations in the Italian press that Poland-Ukraine bought the right to host the 2012 European Championships with nearly €10 million ($14 million) worth of cash bribes.
It follows previous allegations made in the German press at the weekend that the co-hosts had rigged the April 2007 ballot of UEFA Ex-co members to cause a shock victory over Italy and a joint Croatia-Hungary bid.
Senior Polish and Ukrainian officials immediately denied wrongdoing and UEFA gave Marangos, the former treasurer of the Cypriot FA, a deadline of yesterday to come up with evidence or face disciplinary proceedings and legal action.
UEFA confirmed to INSIDER today it had received “no tangible proof” from the Cypriot and had launched a lawsuit against him.
The new allegations are made on the front page of today’s edition of Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport under the headline “Corrupt”.
Marangos alleges that a UEFA Ex-co member had the goal of taking “Euro 2012 at all costs".
He goes on to allege that as part of this strategy bribes worth a total of €9.15 million were paid to four UEFA Ex-co members, with one receiving €3.15 million. Marangos suggests that a fifth Ex-co member also took an inducement.
He said that the money was concealed in “large teddy bears” and the money-laundering was done on Cypriot soil.
“I have three documents, but it only takes one to open the case,” said Marangos. “I'm ready to give all the information, but only here and in the presence of a public authority of Cyprus.”
Marangos told Gazzetta that if he revealed the documents to them, he would put at risk the lives of three witnesses.
He added that he is not afraid for himself, but now fears for the lives of his wife, sons, friends, lawyers and journalists.
“I want there to be justice. Euro 2012 should be reassigned to Italy.”
A UEFA spokesperson told INSIDER that its position had not changed since issuing a statement on Tuesday. She said that Marangos had not passed on any evidence to their Nyon headquarters and that legal proceedings had been opened against him.
Gazzetta, however, has published a series of correspondence from Marangos to senior UEFA figures from a two-year period. The Cypriot alleges that UEFA ignored his emails, faxes and telephone calls, leaving him no option but to talk to the press.
"I hope they arrest me, or take me to prison... it will be a pleasure,” Marangos said. “But at least the case will break out"
Marangos added that he thought UEFA president Michel Platini is an honest friend, who will eventually help him.
He said that he thought the bidding process should be more transparent, adding: "In the future I think that those decisions will have to be taken away from the UEFA executives and given to a technical commission."
As FIFA meets in Zurich to discuss the fallout from its own vote-fixing scandal, today’s revelations in the Italian press have implications for the World Cup bid race. Five of UEFA’s executive committee also sit on the FIFA executive, although there is no suggestion that any of them have committed any wrongdoing. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/uefa-opens-legal-case-against-official-over-euro-2012-bribe-claim-2119360.html
Uefa opens legal case against official over Euro 2012 bribe claim
By Nick Harris
Uefa has opened legal proceedings against a Cypriot FA official who has alleged that the decision to make Ukraine and Poland joint hosts of Euro 2012 was rigged by payments of more than €9.15m (£8m) to at least four members of the European governing body's Executive Committee (ExCo) who voted on the matter in 2007.
Uefa had set Spyros Marangos, a former board member of the Cypriot FA, a deadline of Wednesday to provide evidence to support his claims. He failed to do so, and with Cypriot sources saying the claims are nothing more than a mischievous ploy in a local power struggle, Uefa has started legal action on two fronts: a defamation action, and what is effectively a "put up or shut up" action to force Marangos to provide evidence.
"We are in the process of opening legal proceedings against him to protect the corporate image of Uefa and also to force his hand to show us what evidence he has," said a Uefa spokesman, Rob Faulkner. "He said it was too short notice for him to travel to Switzerland and he wanted us to go there ."
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Two European newspapers, Sueddeutsche Zeitung in Germany and Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, have run articles this week giving more detail of Marangos's claims, including that some of the cash allegedly paid to corrupt officials was stuffed inside teddy bears for the handovers, on Cypriot soil.
There are 15 members of Uefa's ExCo, and 12 of them voted on the hosts for 2012, the others being excluded because their nations were involved in bids. Italy were the pre-vote favourites to win, and another bid, jointly from Croatia and Hungary, was also in the running. But Poland-Ukraine emerged the winners, 8-4 over Italy. Polish and Ukrainian officials have described the allegations as "slander" while reaction elsewhere has alternated between scepticism about Marangos and a desire for a full investigation into the claims.
Marangos says he attempted to turn whistle-blower at various points over the past few years by writing to Uefa officials with his allegations, but that Uefa had not taken him seriously.
An Italian government official – Rocco Crimi, who is a cabinet undersecretary and sports delegate – yesterday entered the fray by calling for an Italian judicial investigation into the allegations that his nation had effectively been robbed of hosting the tournament.
Crimi said Italy's judicial authorities should intervene and that "if crimes emerge they should be prosecuted". He added that Italy would be ready to host Euro 2012 if needed, although there is no suggestion from any party that the tournament will be staged anywhere but Ukraine-Poland. Separate concerns earlier this year that those countries would not be ready have now been dismissed.
The Italian Football Federation president, Giancarlo Abete, says he has full confidence in Uefa to deal with the issue. "Uefa have opened an investigation and there's the will and the need to have clarity," Abete said. " Michel Platini is following the issue of Euro 2012 closely and we have full confidence that there will be clarity in this situation.
"As a member of the executive committee of Uefa, I had been informed of the request made by the Cypriot treasurer with problems relating to Euro 2012. Now we hope that the solution to this ugly story arrives quickly. Certainly, if it's not possible to verify or prove his accusations, it's right that the Cypriot should be prosecuted for the doubts he has raised."
Gazzetta ran the alleged bribes story on its front page yesterday under a headline saying "Corrupt", and detailed that Marangos had claimed one ExCo member received a bung of €3.15m (£2.75m) for his vote, while three others received £1.75m each, and a fifth member received an unspecified inducement to vote for the eventual winners.
"I have three documents, but it only takes one to open the case," Marangos was quoted as saying. "I'm ready to give all the information, but only here and in the presence of a public authority of Cyprus." Marangos claimed in Gazzetta that revealing the documents to anyone but authorities who could act on them could endanger the lives of witnesses, as well as his own family and other contacts. "I want there to be justice," Gazzetta quote Marangos as saying over the airing of his claims. "Euro 2012 should be reassigned to Italy."
Gazzetta has also published correspondence purportedly from Marangos to Uefa officials over a two-year period, including a fax sent directly to Platini in June 2009, and a letter sent to Uefa's well-regarded head of discipline and compliance, Peter Limacher, in July this year. Marangos says Limacher was meant to meet him but that meeting was cancelled. Limacher is currently suspended pending a Uefa investigation into unsubstantiated claims he was the source of a story in a German magazine alleging match-fixing against Bayern Munich.
Euro 2012 bid process
On 8 November 2005, Uefa's Executive Committee whittled down prospective bids for Euro 2012 from five to three, eliminating Turkey and Greece from the process. At this stage, Ukraine-Poland was in third place behind the bids from Italy and Hungary-Croatia. Below is how ExCo members voted then, but when the decision was made in Cardiff on 18 April 2007, they had changed their minds.
Italy: First-round votes: 11
The Italians were the clear favourites ahead of the final vote. Led by Luca Pancalli, the Football Federation's commissioner, their bid was by far the best on paper, as the country had already hosted the competition twice, in 1968 and 1980, and had the best stadiums. However, Roma fans' attacks on Manchester United supporters just days before the announcement in 2007 were blamed for Uefa overlooking them.
Hungary & Croatia: Votes: 9
The violence in Italy coupled with the Serie A match-rigging scandal of the previous season gave Hungary and Croatia hope they could prevail, as they had won the second biggest number of votes in the initial phase. When they too were overlooked, there was outrage with Croatian FA president, Vlatko Markovic, demanding compensation from Uefa.
Ukraine & Poland: Votes: 7
Despite trailing in third after the 2005 vote, Ukraine-Poland's bid presentation in Cardiff impressed Uefa. It was fronted by Andrei Shevchenko and Jerzey Dudek, then of Chelsea and Liverpool respectively. What reportedly swung the vote was Uefa president Michel Platini's desire to end western Europe's hegemony of hosting the competition. http://sports.sina.com.cn/g/2010-10-29/10305276585.shtml
2012歐洲杯申辦醜聞曝光 高官收黑金做掉意大利！
http://sports.sina.com.cn2010年10月29日10:30四川新聞網-成都商報
成都商報在本週二報道過2012年歐洲杯的申辦過程可能存在賄選內幕，短短兩天後，這件事情又有了新的進展。據昨天出版的意大利《米蘭體育報》爆料，前塞浦路斯足協財務主管馬蘭格斯聲稱，三年前歐足聯擁有投票權的12名執委中有4人總共接受了價值915萬歐元的黑金，將選票投向烏克蘭/波蘭，使得後者擊敗意大利獲得2012年歐洲杯舉辦權。
《米蘭體育報》援引馬蘭格斯的原話稱，“在2007年4月18日，烏克蘭/波蘭最終以8票擊敗了4票的意大利。就在這天之前，我發現了一些不尋常的事情。我從私人渠道得知蘇爾基斯(烏克蘭足協主席)要不惜一切代價取得2012年歐洲杯的舉辦權，然後我開始特別關注他。票選結束後，我找到了3名證人，1人可以證實收受黑金的4名執委身份，其他人則可以證實這些黑金用來購買了那次投票的選票。”馬蘭格斯透露，烏克蘭方面主要負責重金行賄執委，“其中一名執委從蘇爾基斯那裡得到了315萬歐元，另外三名執委每人得到了200萬歐元。”馬蘭格斯表示自己並非空口無憑，“目前，我手中掌握有三份文件，隨便哪一份都可以揭穿這件醜聞的真相。我敢說這件事情就不怕威脅報復，不過我卻很擔心我的妻兒、朋友、那些證人。除了四位執委之外，還有第五人涉嫌其中。他來自德國，但目前我還沒有關于他的確鑿證據。我會在塞浦路斯曝光所有證據，2012年歐洲杯原本應該交給意大利承辦。”
令人生疑的是，申辦2012年歐洲杯的投票會議于2007年4月18日在威爾士加的夫舉行，距今已超過三年。為什麼這麼長的時間內馬蘭格斯都保持沉默，非要選在國際足聯索賄醜聞曝光後又把歐足聯的昔日醜聞公布于眾。馬蘭格斯對此解釋道，他早在2年前就準備公開這件醜聞，“然而一些力量暗中阻止了我”。目前，馬蘭格斯已經引起了國際足壇的高度關注。歐足聯本週二晚在其官網上發出緊急聲明，表示歐足聯已經開始調查此事。歐足聯主席普拉蒂尼要求馬蘭格斯在本週日前向歐足聯紀律委員會遞交證據，否則他們將保留將馬蘭格斯以“惡意誹謗罪”告上法庭的權利。 http://sports.sina.com.cn/g/2010-10-29/10485276633.shtml
申辦黑金調查已啟動！2012歐洲杯恐改判意大利舉辦
http://sports.sina.com.cn2010年10月29日10:48新浪體育
新浪體育訊 烏克蘭波蘭申辦2012歐洲杯醜聞一事被塞浦路斯足協財務主管馬蘭格斯曝光之後，歐足聯正在對此事進行進一步的追查，而意大利方面則仿佛看到了曙光，一旦賄賂醜聞成立，2012年歐洲杯有可能改判在意大利舉行！
意大利足協主席阿貝特在第一時間進行了表態，他表示，他對歐足聯的調查“非常有信心”。阿貝特說：“歐足聯已經公開開始了調查，他們表現出了希望查清這件事情的願望，而歐足聯主席普拉蒂尼也非常關注2012歐洲杯的申辦事件，，因此，對于事情最終水落石出被還以公正，我們有著充分的信心。”
據馬格蘭斯此前的透露，歐足聯12名投票執委當中的4人，從波蘭和烏克蘭主辦方收取了高達915萬歐元的賄賂，最終致使2012歐洲杯花落波蘭和烏克蘭。。
阿貝特說：“現在，我們希望對于這樣的醜聞，能夠盡快有一個解決方案，如果馬格蘭斯先生不能證明他的指控成立，那麼歐足聯的法律團隊將會追究他的責任。”
與此同時，意大利政府表態，一旦醜聞成立，波蘭和烏克蘭被剝奪了主辦資格，他們已經準備好了接手承辦2012歐洲杯的工作。
意大利體育部副部長克裡米說：“如果2012年歐洲杯最終回到意大利手中，那麼我們可以說已經準備就緒，無論是場館還是安全措施都是如此。”克裡米同時還敦促歐足聯進行深入調查，他說，“這件事情必須被徹底調查，並還以公正，如果任何違法行為曾經出現，那麼必須在體育法庭和民事法庭予以起訴，一些人必須付出代價。 意大利體育部副部長克裡米說：“如果2012年歐洲杯最終回到意大利手中，那麼我們可以說已經準備就緒，無論是場館還是安全措施都是如此。”
之前好似話D舊球場, 包括聖西路都唔合格,
唔通全部比賽都搬去祖記個新球場踢?:icon101: 原帖由 User173 於 2010-10-2912:24 PM 發表 http://www.hkcmforum.com/images/common/back.gif
意大利體育部副部長克裡米說：“如果2012年歐洲杯最終回到意大利手中，那麼我們可以說已經準備就緒，無論是場館還是安全措施都是如此。”
之前好似話D舊球場, 包括聖西路都唔合格,
唔通全部比賽都搬去祖記個新球場踢?:ico ...
淨係計草已經唔多掂:icon102: 我大法蘭西就勉為其難承辦吧 :(
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