Exclusive: FIFA corruption scandal ensnares two more Executive Committee members

By David Owen

June 16 – A FIFA investigation into allegations of corruption linked to the recent Presidential election that saw Joseph Blatter re-elected for a fourth term is understood to have been extended to take in two further Executive Committee members.

In the latest twist to a saga that is holding the football world mesmerised, a well-placed source has told insideworldfootball that the probe is thought to have been extended to Worawi Makudi of Thailand (pictured above left) and Sri Lanka’s Manilal Fernando (right).

While there is no suggestion that either man has done anything wrong, it is thought that they may have accompanied former Presidential challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam on his trip to the Caribbean.

Bin Hammam and Jack Warner, the head of the CONCACAF Confederation covering North and Central America and the Caribbean, were last month provisionally suspended from football activities.

This followed allegations that Caribbean voters had been offered $40,000 (£24.000) bribes during the Presidential campaign.

FIFA recently hired Louis Freeh, a former FBI director, to head the evidence-gathering team looking into the claims.

His group was said to be working under the supervision of Robert Torres, the FIFA Ethics Committee member from Guam.

Neither Makudi nor Fernando could immediately be reached for comment.

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