FIFA Executive Committee Member Blazer Admitted Bribes

Former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer told a U.S. federal judge that he and others on the governing body’s ruling panel agreed to receive bribes in the votes for the hosts of the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter (L) taps shoulders of the general-secretary of the Caribbean, North and Central American (CONCACAF) Chuck Blazer, on June 1, 2011 at the start of the 61st FIFA congress at the Zurich Hallenstadion in Oerlikon near Zurich. Fabrice Cofrini/AFP/Getty Images

NEW YORK—Former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer told a U.S. federal judge that he and others on the governing body’s ruling panel agreed to receive bribes in the votes for the hosts of the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.

Prosecutors unsealed a 40-page transcript Wednesday of the hearing in U.S. District Court on Nov. 25, 2013, when Blazer pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges.

Four sections of the transcript were redacted by prosecutors, presumably to protect avenues of their investigation.

Blazer, in admitting 10 counts of illegal conduct, told the court of his conduct surrounding the vote that made South Africa the first nation on that continent to host soccer’s premier event.

“Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup,” Blazer told U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie.

Blazer also said he was involved in bribes around 1992 in the vote for the 1998 World Cup host, won by France over Morocco 12–7.