Jerome Valcke, Sepp Blatter’s top lieutenant, accused of bribery

You would have to be incredibly naive to think FIFA president Sepp Blatter — who once again won re-election last week — knew nothing about the corruption that was going on within the organization that he is supposed to be in charge of. The only question is whether or not American prosecutors can prove it.

According to the New York Times, officials believe Blatter’s top lieutenant was responsible for $10 million in bank transactions that are at the center of a bribery scandal from several years ago. Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s secretary general, allegedly transferred $10 million to Jack Warner, another soccer official, in 2008 as part of a bribe to help South Africa secure the 2010 World Cup.

The lengthy indictment does not identify Valcke or say that the official knew the money was being used as a bribe. Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of South Africa’s World Cup bid, claims the money was a legitimate payment that was sent to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) as part of an effort to support soccer in the Caribbean.

In an interview with the Sunday Independent in South Africa, Jordaan said the timing of the payment proves it was not a bribe since it occurred years after South Africa won the bid. Prosecutors believe that was part of the larger scheme and that Warner and others were paid $10 million via several wire transfers in 2008 in exchange for their votes for South Africa.

After Blatter was re-elected last week, he was asked about the alleged bribery scheme and if he knew who the high-ranking FIFA official is that is named in the indictment.

“Definitely that is not me,” Blatter said. “I have no $10 million.”

Blatter was not one of the more than a dozen officials who were arrested at a hotel in Switzerland last week, but American prosecutors are determined to prove he was involved in or aware of what was going on. Making a case that Blatter’s right-hand man was part of a $10 million bribery scheme would be a good place to start.