Chuck Blazer was working undercover for the FBI for 18 months while still a member of FIFA’s executive committee, his plea agreement with US justice authorities has revealed.
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The 70-year-old struck a deal to become an informant to avoid a potential jail term of up to 75 years after pleading guilty to 10 charges, including bribery, money laundering and tax evasion.
His plea agreement has been made public and confirms he agreed to work undercover from December 2011.
The disclosure was revealed as FIFA expressed angry disappointment at the Nobel Peace Centre’s decision to sever its links with the world governing body.
Former FIFA member Chuck Blazer agreed to act undercover for US prosecutors investigating corruption in football. pic.twitter.com/KqRfwEdYma
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) June 16, 2015
Blazer and three others have pleaded guilty to football-related corruption, while another 14 people have been indicted. These include seven FIFA officials arrested in Switzerland on May 27 who are contesting extradition to the United States.
The 19-page plea agreement says: “The defendant agrees to furnish to the office all documents and other material that may be relevant to this investigation… and to participate in undercover activities pursuant to the specific instructions of law enforcement agents.”
The agreement does not detail what Blazer’s sentence will be but says his co-operation with the authorities can be taken into account.
Blazer, a FIFA executive committee member from 1997 to 2013, has admitted taking bribes to vote for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup, and named former FIFA vicepresident Jack Warner as also taking bribes.
Warner was president of north and central American and Caribbean confederation CONCACAF and Blazer his general secretary.
The New York Daily News reported last year that Blazer had bugged meetings with executives at the London 2012 Olympics with a wire device concealed in a key fob.
